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.