58 Fun Facts About Pearl Jam

A 1993 Pearl Jam concert at a California polo field helped inspire which music festival?

Coachella grew from that show: promoter Paul Tollett found the Empire Polo Club while seeking a venue for Pearl Jam, and staged the first festival there in 1999.

Under what name did Pearl Jam briefly perform before settling on their permanent name?

Mookie Blaylock was then an NBA point guard; the band dropped his name as it signed with Epic Records, but named its debut album Ten after his jersey number.

Which Vs. single topped both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts in 1994?

Daughter is about a girl whose learning disability was mistaken for misbehaviour, Vedder said, and such kids often got beaten for it.

The 'Jam' half of Pearl Jam's name was inspired by a concert by which musician?

Neil Young stretched songs into long jams at a show the band saw, Ament said; Vedder later admitted his tale of a great-grandmother's peyote jam was made up.

Gossard and Ament's earlier band, Mother Love Bone, ended when Andrew Wood died of what?

A heroin overdose killed Andrew Wood on March 19, 1990, months before Mother Love Bone's debut album Apple reached stores; Temple of the Dog was formed in his memory.

Before Mother Love Bone, Gossard and Ament played in which Seattle band?

Green River split in 1987, and singer Mark Arm and guitarist Steve Turner went on to form Mudhoney.

Eddie Vedder was born in Evanston, Illinois, under what name?

Edward Louis Severson III grew up believing his stepfather was his father, and later took his mother's maiden name, Vedder.

Vedder won his spot in the band by recording vocals for a three-song 'mini-opera' he called what?

Momma-Son's lyrics came to Vedder while surfing with the demo in his head; he recorded vocals, mailed the tape back, and the songs became Alive, Once and Footsteps.

Which song on Ten did Pearl Jam record dozens of times before settling on a take?

Even Flow, Vedder's song about a homeless man, needed so many takes that band members later felt the earlier demo had more spark.

Which artist's album kept Ten from the top of the Billboard 200 in 1992?

Billy Ray Cyrus's Some Gave All held Ten at number 2 in 1992; Ten had been a slow burner, entering the Billboard 200 months after its 1991 release.

Which drummer played on Ten?

Dave Krusen drummed on Ten but left the band in May 1991, before the album was released; Dave Abbruzzese played on the next two albums.

Who produced Ten at Seattle's London Bridge Studio?

Rick Parashar got the job after producing Temple of the Dog, the Andrew Wood tribute album Gossard and Ament had just made with him.

Mike McCready based the guitar solo that closes Alive on a solo by which guitarist?

Ace Frehley, a childhood hero of McCready's, played the Kiss solo on She that the Alive lead is based on, and that solo itself came from the Doors' Five to One.

'Jeremy' was inspired by a report about a teenager who shot himself in front of his class in which state?

Jeremy Wade Delle died in Richardson, Texas; Vedder also drew on a seventh-grade classmate in San Diego who brought a gun to class and shot a fish tank.

Who directed the 'Jeremy' video, which won Video of the Year at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards?

Mark Pellington directed it; MTV would not air the shot of the gun in Jeremy's mouth, so the broadcast edit left many viewers thinking the boy had shot his classmates.

Which animated 1998 clip ended Pearl Jam's years-long break from making music videos?

Do the Evolution was co-directed by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, so the band, which felt videos distracted from the music, never had to appear in it.

Pearl Jam's Vs. set a first-week US sales record in 1993; whose 1998 album finally broke it?

Garth Brooks's live album Double Live sold about 1.08 million copies in its first week; Vs. had set its mark while the band refused to make music videos.

What animal appears on the cover of Vs.?

An angora goat pressing its face through a wire fence fills the cover; Jeff Ament, who took the photo, said it showed how trapped the band had come to feel.

Which company did Pearl Jam accuse of being a monopoly in a 1994 antitrust complaint?

Pearl Jam filed its complaint against Ticketmaster with the Justice Department in May 1994, then spent years refusing to play venues tied to the company.

Pearl Jam's Vitalogy held the SoundScan-era record for one-week vinyl sales until which rock star's 2014 album?

Jack White's Lazaretto sold 40,000 vinyl copies in its first week in 2014, beating Vitalogy's 34,000, which Pearl Jam had released on vinyl two weeks before the CD.

Which Vitalogy song won Pearl Jam their first Grammy, for Best Hard Rock Performance?

Spin the Black Circle won the band's first Grammy, and accepting it Vedder said, 'I don't know what this means. I don't think it means anything.'

On the Vitalogy track 'Bugs', Vedder plays which instrument, bought at a thrift shop?

Accordion is the instrument Vedder plays on Bugs, bought at a thrift shop; the album's closing track was built from looped recordings of psychiatric patients.

Before Pearl Jam, Vedder first performed 'Better Man' with which San Diego band?

Bad Radio played it first, and Pearl Jam's version later topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart without ever being sold as a US single.

Which former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer joined Pearl Jam in 1994?

Jack Irons had passed the band's demo to his friend Eddie Vedder in 1990, then quit before the U.S. leg of the 1998 Yield tour.

Temple of the Dog, the 1990 tribute project to Andrew Wood, was conceived by which singer?

Chris Cornell, Wood's roommate, wrote the first songs in his memory and assembled the group; its single Hunger Strike was Vedder's first featured vocal on a record.

In Cameron Crowe's 1992 film Singles, Vedder, Ament and Gossard play members of which fictional band?

Citizen Dick's song 'Touch Me, I'm Dick' parodied Mudhoney's 'Touch Me I'm Sick', with Matt Dillon as the band's singer, Cliff Poncier.

One Polaroid on the cover of Pearl Jam's No Code shows which NBA star?

Dennis Rodman, a longtime Pearl Jam fan, has crashed the band's concerts and once carried Eddie Vedder in his arms onstage.

Which song was the first single from Pearl Jam's 1998 album Yield?

Given to Fly, with music by Mike McCready, is loosely based on Led Zeppelin's 'Going to California'.

Matt Cameron joined Pearl Jam in 1998 after drumming for which band since 1986?

Soundgarden's Matt Cameron had already drummed on Pearl Jam's first instrumental demos in 1990, eight years before he joined the band.

Pearl Jam's 1999 cover of 'Last Kiss' raised money for refugees from which war?

Proceeds went to refugees of the Kosovo War; Vedder had found the 1960s original in an antiques store, and the cover became Pearl Jam's highest-charting US hit.

How was Pearl Jam's 'Last Kiss' first released, before its wider 1999 issue?

As a fan-club Christmas single, Last Kiss reached only Ten Club members, but radio stations got copies and played it until popular demand led to a public release.

Which producer, known for two-microphone binaural recording, made Pearl Jam's 2000 album Binaural?

Tchad Blake recorded Binaural, but at the mixing stage the band turned back to their old producer Brendan O'Brien.

About how many official live 'bootleg' albums did Pearl Jam release from its 2000 tour?

72 official bootlegs came out so fans could buy good-sounding recordings of the shows they had seen.

Nine fans died in a crowd crush during Pearl Jam's 2000 set at which European festival?

After Roskilde, Pearl Jam vowed never to play another festival, though the band later went back on that vow.

Which Riot Act song did Vedder open wearing a rubber mask in 2003, later hanging the mask on his mic stand?

Bu$hleaguer mocks George W. Bush, and when the band played it on Long Island in 2003 the crowd booed and chanted 'USA'.

Which keyboardist debuted on Pearl Jam's Riot Act after jamming with Vedder in Hawaii?

Boom Gaspar's first jam with Vedder, soon after they met in Hawaii, grew into the Riot Act song Love Boat Captain, which he co-wrote.

Which fruit on its cover gives Pearl Jam's self-titled 2006 album its nickname?

Avocado is the fruit sliced open on the cover, so fans call the album Avocado; it was the band's only studio album for J Records.

Eddie Vedder's first solo album was the soundtrack to which 2007 Sean Penn film?

Sean Penn handpicked Vedder for Into the Wild, and its song Guaranteed won Vedder the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Which unusual instrument gave Eddie Vedder's 2011 solo album its title?

Ukulele Songs came years after Vedder, stuck for lyrics while making Binaural, picked up a ukulele and wrote Pearl Jam's Soon Forget on it.

Backspacer came out on which record label owned by Pearl Jam?

Monkeywrench Records, the band's own label, put out Backspacer after Pearl Jam's old record deal ended and the band chose to release the album itself.

Which editorial cartoonist drew the cover of Backspacer?

Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of Dan Perkins, creator of the strip This Modern World; the cover images were hidden across websites in a pre-release scavenger hunt.

Pearl Jam Twenty, the 2011 anniversary documentary, premiered at which film festival?

Pearl Jam Twenty premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival; Stone Gossard said the band took it on only because Cameron Crowe would sift through its footage.

Lightning Bolt won Pearl Jam a Grammy in which category?

Best Recording Package went to Lightning Bolt's art by skateboard artist Don Pendleton, who got the job after bassist Jeff Ament bought some of his paintings.

Which Pearl Jam album, released March 27, 2020, ended a gap of more than six years between records?

Gigaton arrived as COVID-19 spread, so Pearl Jam postponed the North American tour meant to launch it.

Pearl Jam's twelfth studio album, Dark Matter, was produced by whom?

Andrew Watt got the job after producing Vedder's solo album Earthling, which led the band to start Dark Matter with him.

Which rapper entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, in the same class as Pearl Jam?

Tupac Shakur and Pearl Jam both got in at their first chance, since acts become eligible 25 years after their first record and both debuted in 1991.

Guitarist Mike McCready has spoken publicly about living with which condition?

McCready, who has Crohn's disease, plays an annual benefit concert for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

Which Alice in Chains singer fronted Mad Season, Mike McCready's 1990s side project?

Mike McCready met bassist John Baker Saunders in rehab and brought in Layne Staley, hoping sober bandmates would help him get clean.

Which Pearl Jam song, co-written by McCready, has become the band's regular set closer?

Yellow Ledbetter was only an outtake and a B-side of Jeremy, yet it became the song Pearl Jam often plays last at its concerts.

Jeff Ament grew up in the small town of Big Sandy in which state?

Ament grew up in Big Sandy, Montana, and his Montana Pool Service Foundation has helped build more than 30 skateparks in the state, many on reservations.

Eddie Vedder is a famously devoted fan of which baseball team?

Vedder, raised in Evanston just north of Chicago, wrote the Cubs anthem All the Way after Cubs great Ernie Banks asked him for a song.

Which No Code single reached number one on the Modern Rock chart in 1996?

Who You Are grew out of a drumbeat the band's new drummer liked to play, and Stone Gossard started building the song over it.

Which drummer left Pearl Jam after a handful of 1991 shows to join the Saturday Night Live band?

Matt Chamberlain, formerly of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, played a few 1991 shows and appears in the Alive video before leaving for the Saturday Night Live band; he recommended Abbruzzese as his replacement.

On which 1995 album was Pearl Jam the backing band, credited only member by member for legal reasons?

Mirror Ball was cut in Seattle in early 1995, and two leftover songs, I Got Id and Long Road, became Pearl Jam's EP Merkin Ball.

Which director asked Pearl Jam for an original song for Big Fish, resulting in 'Man of the Hour'?

Tim Burton asked for a song after screening an early cut of Big Fish for the band; Man of the Hour was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in 2004.

Which record executive founded J Records, Pearl Jam's label for its 2006 self-titled album?

Clive Davis launched J Records with Bertelsmann's backing after being pushed out as head of Arista Records.

Who inducted Pearl Jam into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

David Letterman stepped in after the scheduled inductor pulled out, and praised Pearl Jam for recognizing injustice and standing up to it.

What is the name of the digital concert archive opened to Ten Club members in 2021?

Deep, launched at deep.pearljam.com in 2021, gave Ten Club members a searchable archive of nearly 200 shows from 2000 to 2013.