It’s no secret that Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder is one of San Diego’s most successful musical exports ever. Sure, he might have been born in Chicago, but he and his family moved to San Diego when he was a pre-teen. In fact, when his mother and brothers moved back to Chicago, he decided to stay in San Diego with his stepfather because he didn’t want to change high schools (he was attending San Dieguito at the time).
Even though he was forced to drop out of high school and move back to Chicago during his senior year, he returned to San Diego in 1984 with his girlfriend. It’s here that things really took off for him as he made more and more connections in the Southern California music scene that eventually extended to Seattle where he would form Pearl Jam.
So, yes, Vedder is positively San Diegan, and that’s why it’s such a source of pride for us at SoundDiego when news like this comes out: Pearl Jam will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by none other than Neil Young.
Yesterday, the Cleveland, Ohio-based organization announced a list of presenters, which includes Jackson Browne and Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. But, according to Consequence of Sound, Young’s induction of Vedder tops that list.
And to think -- just 30 years ago, Vedder was a security guard patrolling La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, and less than a decade before that he was working nights at a drugstore in Encinitas while trying to support himself through high school.
On behalf of all San Diegans, thank you Neil Young and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for penning the next chapter of Vedder's fairy tale.
Pearl Jam's induction, which will eventually air on HBO, takes place on April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Tickets, which start at $50, go on sale for everyone on Feb. 3.
Rutger Rosenborg was almost a Stanford neuroscientist before he formed Ed Ghost Tucker. He now plays in the Lulls and makes music on his own when he's not writing. Follow his updates on Facebook or contact him directly.
