The Tragic Real Life Story Of Pearl Jam

From their humble start as a band named after an NBA star to their present status as one of the few Seattle grunge acts of the early '90s that haven't stopped making music since their formation, Pearl Jam has seen it all. They've had numerous drummers come and go, feuded with Ticketmaster, and received flak for their sociopolitical stances, all while recording some of the most iconic rock songs of the 1990s and remaining far more than just a nostalgia act from years ago. And aside from that thing with the revolving-door cast of drummers that marked their first decade as a band, it's no joke to maintain the same lineup for more than two decades.

Amid all that success and adulation, Pearl Jam and its members have experienced a number of sad events in their lives. These include, but are not limited to deaths of close friends, family members, and fellow musicians; substance abuse issues; and one particular tragedy that nearly broke up the band. As inspiring as Pearl Jam's history may be in the grand scheme of things, these are the events that make up the tragic part of their ongoing story.

Soon after the band's early rehearsals, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready brought in two new members to complete the lineup: drummer Dave Krusen and singer Eddie Vedder, who was then establishing himself as an up-and-coming musician in San Diego. Of course, we now know that Vedder would essentially define Pearl Jam's sound as their lead singer and primary songwriter, and one of the earliest signs his Seattle-based bandmates knew they were working with someone special was when he provided lyrics to Gossard's "Dollar Short" demo and transformed it into the song now known as "Alive."

The lyrics stand out because they tell a fictionalized account of an unforgettable moment in Vedder's life. For much of his youth, he believed that his mother's husband, Peter Mueller, was his birth father, only to find out in his teens that Mueller was actually his stepfather. Vedder's birth father was a man named Ed Severson, whom he had mainly known as a family friend and had since died of multiple sclerosis. 

Speaking to Howard Stern on his eponymous show in 2020, Vedder said that while this revelation shocked him, he was somehow relieved to learn the truth, given his contentious relationship with his stepfather. "When my mom told me that this guy wasn't my father and it was somebody else — you know, it was a shock, but I was so grateful in a way," the singer said.

"Jeremy" is a standout track from the "Ten" album, yet it is also arguably the record's most controversial song, having been inspired by a real-life incident where Richardson, Texas, high school sophomore Jeremy Wade Delle died by suicide in front of his classmates and teacher. Six years after Delle's death in January 1991 and five years after "Jeremy" was released as a single, the song's video — which told the story of a troubled young boy who was bullied in school and ignored at home — drew attention when it was blamed for a school shooting in Pearl Jam's home state.

On February 2, 1996, 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis, a student at Frontier Junior High School in Moses Lake, Washington, shot and killed two students and a teacher and seriously injured another student, allegedly in part because he was disturbed by Pearl Jam's video for "Jeremy." As reported by the Seattle Times in 1997 (via MTV), Loukaitis' mother, JoAnn Phillips, claimed in court that her son memorized the song's lyrics and was "real fidgety and uncomfortable" while watching its video.

Commenting about the "Jeremy" video and how it was already garnering controversy at that time, Eddie Vedder told Rockline (via Five Horizons) in 1993 that he didn't believe violence or suicide was the answer for bullied kids such as the video's subject. "The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself," he said. "Be stronger than those people. And then you can come back."

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

On June 30, 2000, one of the worst tragedies in the history of live rock concerts happened at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, as eight people died of suffocation in the mosh pit during Pearl Jam's set, with a ninth attendee dying five days later.

In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, Eddie Vedder admitted that the deaths at Roskilde impacted his band so much that they were strongly considering calling it a career. "We came together as close as we could," the frontman said. "People handled it in different ways. The guys whose general disposition is more emotional — they became more composed. Whereas some of the people who are more conservative with their emotions — they kind of cracked." Vedder also revealed that Stone Gossard was most affected by the tragedy, to the point he was ready to quit after Roskilde. "And I thought that if anyone ever lost their lives at one of our shows, that would be it. I would never play again," he continued.

Despite how close they apparently came to disbanding, Pearl Jam was back onstage in the U.S. about a month later, and Vedder credited Sonic Youth's presence as their opening act as a huge morale boost. In particular, he thanked Sonic Youth co-founders Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's young daughter Coco for boosting his spirits on tour. "When she's in her twenties, I'll tell her how much that meant to me," the singer said.