Eddie info

• Real Name: Edward Jerome Vedder
  
• Birth Name: Edward Louis Seversen III
  
• "Hovercraft" Name: PAUL 4
  
• Birthdate: December 23, 1964
  
• Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois
  
• Occupation: Singer, songwriter, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, artist, and Super-8 cameraman
  
• Former Job: Chevron Gas Station Attendant, San Diego, CA
  
• Bands: Surf and Destroy, the Butts, Indian Style, Bad Radio, Temple Of The Dog, Pearl Jam, Hovercraft, The What?
  
• Education: High school
  
• Marital Status: Married to Beth Liebling
  
• Favorite Band: The Who
  
• Favorite Basketball Team: Chicago Bulls
  
• Favorite Baseball Team: Chicago Cubs

Personal life

Vedder married longtime girlfriend Beth Liebling in 1994. The couple divorced in 2000. Vedder is currently dating model Jill McCormick.^[11] He and McCormick have one daughter, Olivia, who was born June 11, 2004.

Eddie is also a friend of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, singer Chris Cornell, and was a close friend of the late Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone, being by Johnny's side on his deathbed. Since Johnny's death, Eddie and Pearl Jam have played a cover of Ramones' hit "I Believe In Miracles" regularly at live shows.

Eddie attended San Dieguito High School, now called San Dieguito Academy, and donated more than $10,000 from a local concert towards the construction of a theater for the school.

In his spare time, Eddie is a surfer and active in surf related conservation efforts; most notably, the Surfrider Foundation.^[12] He is also a friend of famed surfers Kelly Slater, Laird Hamilton, and fellow musician Jack Johnson. He was featured with Laird Hamilton in an episode of the documentary series Iconoclasts in 2006. He also has paddled outrigger canoes on occasion and in 2005 was nearly lost at sea trying to paddle from Moloka'i to Oahu.^[13]

Vedder shows his support for environmental activism by sporting an Earth First! tattoo on his right calf. The logo is of a monkey wrench crossed with a stone hammer. Vedder is also a vegetarian.^[14]

Vedder is also a long-time fan of the Chicago Cubs, and is good friends with pitcher Kerry Wood. Vedder has sung "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at four Cubs games since 1998. In 2007, a few days before performing with Pearl Jam in Chicago for Lollapalooza, he threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field (the home of the Cubs).

His Work: Pearl Jam and Others

Although best known as a vocalist, Vedder also plays several musical instruments. He plays guitar on many Pearl Jam songs, beginning with "Rearviewmirror" and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" from Vs. He has also contributed performances on the ukulele, the drums, cowbell, harmonica, accordion, and sitar to various Pearl Jam recordings. At concerts Vedder often brings out a tambourine for the final songs of the show, and casts it into the crowd at the end. Vedder has two pedals for his guitar, one is marked "Soap" (Clean tone) and the other is "Dirt" (Distortion).^[9]

On Pearl Jam records, Vedder uses the pseudonym "Jerome Turner" for his non-musical (usually design and artwork) contributions. He has also sometimes used the pseudonym of "Wes C. Addle" ("West Seattle").

Vedder began incorporating political statements into his performances early in his career with Pearl Jam. At concerts he often pauses between songs to engage in brief political commentary. During Pearl Jam's 1992 appearance on MTV Unplugged, Vedder stood atop his stool, took out a marker pen, and wrote PRO-CHOICE down his arm in large letters. Pearl Jam performed a Rock for Choice benefit concert in Pensacola, Florida in March of 1994, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the assassination of local abortion provider Dr. David Gunn. Pearl Jam were one of the headliners of the 2004 Vote for Change Tour.

Vedder is known for playing "presets" at Pearl Jam shows, coming onstage with just a guitar (sometimes with a harmonica) and playing one or two songs to warm up the audience for the opening band. The songs performed during this part of the set are frequently slower acoustic songs such as "Long Road" and Cat Stevens's "Trouble". Many of these songs are not frequently on the Pearl Jam set list, giving audiences a chance to hear material in a more intimate manner.

Other work

In addition to playing with Pearl Jam, and Temple of The Dog, Vedder has performed or recorded with numerous well-known artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, U2, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Ben Harper, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Neil Finn, Beck, Mike Ness, Lyle Workman, Presidents of the United States of America, Mark Seymour, Robert Plant, Bad Religion, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Rolling Stones, The Strokes, Victoria Williams, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth, The Who, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Supersuckers, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Supergrass, Ministry, Chris Cornell, Jack Johnson, Ramones, Iggy Pop, Gary Heffern, Cat Power, Zeke, Peter Frampton, G.E. Smith, Wolfmother, Sleater-Kinney, Mike Watt and the remaining members of The Doors.

Vedder has inducted The Doors, Neil Young, the Ramones, and R.E.M. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He has contributed solo material to several soundtracks and compilations, including the soundtracks for the films Dead Man Walking and I Am Sam. Vedder wrote two songs for the 2007 feature documentary Body of War produced by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue: "No More" (a song referring to the Iraq War) and "Long Nights". He will also be contributing an album's worth of songs to the soundtrack for the 2007 film Into the Wild including a cover of the Indio song "Hard Sun".^[10]

Vedder appeared in the 1992 movie Singles as himself, in lead actor Matt Dillon's backing band, Citizen Dick. In 2007, he will make a cameo as himself in the upcoming film Walk Hard.

His beginnings

Early work

Vedder had several stints in San Diego area bands. One included future Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk.^[6] Another one was a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover/tribute band.^[7] In 1988, the rather shy singer became the vocalist for the San Diego progressive funk-rock band Bad Radio. During his time with Bad Radio he penned and performed the song "Better Man", a song based on the relationship between his mother and his stepfather. This song would later become a hit for Pearl Jam.

After leaving Bad Radio in 1990, Vedder's friend and former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons gave him a demo tape from a band in Seattle that was looking for a singer. Vedder recorded vocals for three of the songs, which later became Pearl Jam's "Alive", "Once", and "Footsteps". Vedder wrote the song lyrics as a mini-opera which he called the "Mamasan trilogy". The songs tell the story of a young man who, like Vedder, learns that he had been lied to about his paternity and that his real father is dead ("Alive"). He grows up to become a serial killer ("Once"), and is eventually imprisoned and sentenced to death ("Footsteps").^[8]

After hearing the tape, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament invited Vedder to come to Seattle to audition for the band that soon became Pearl Jam. They were instantly impressed with his unique sound and the fact that he knew a little about Andrew Wood.

Very soon after joining Pearl Jam, even before recording Ten, Vedder was brought in to provide backing vocals on the Temple of the Dog album, a tribute to late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood that featured members of both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.