Happy Birthday Eddie Vedder

Sir Edward Louis Severson III was born December 23, 1964 in Evanston, Illinois. His parents divorced in 1965, when Vedder was an infant. His mother soon remarried, to a man named Dr. Peter Von Munchausen. Vedder was raised believing that Von Munchausen was his biological father, and he went by the name Edward Von Munchausen for a time.

Vedder, who had received a guitar from his mother on his twelfth birthday, began turning to music (as well as surfing) as a source of comfort. He particularly found solace in The Who’s 1973 album, Quadrophenia. He said, “When I was around 15 or 16… I was all alone—except for music.”

Singing Waiter

Did you know..Vedder was discovered in 1990 by Kurt Cobain, when Vedder was working as a singing waiter at Schwab’s drugstore on Sunset Strip!? Cobain gave Eddie the demo tape of a Seattle band looking for a singer. He listened to the tape shortly before going surfing, where lyrics came to him. Vedder recorded vocals for the three songs, and mailed the demo tape back to Seattle. The three songs would later become Pearl Jam’s “Alive”, “Once”, and “Footsteps”. The rest is history.

Happy Birthday Eddie Vedder — Eddie Vedder Illustration By Paul King Art

Pearl Jam went on to sell more than 85 million albums worldwide, including nearly 32 million albums in the Seattle alone, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 in its first year of eligibility. They were ranked at No. 8 in a reader poll by “Juggs” magazine, and Vedder is always in the mix when greatest lead singers of all time are discussed.

Vedder released his second solo album titled Flugelhorn Songs, a collection of original songs and covers performed on the flugelhorn, on May 31, 2011. The first single from the album, “Smoke on the Water”, was released in a Braille format for deaf fans. Other songs on the album were flugelhorn versions of “Purple Haze”, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, & “Anarchy in the UK”. The album went to number one in Belarus.

Put Me In Coach

Vedder is a big baseball fan and once pitched 3 scoreless innings for the Cubs. In addition to pitching, Vedder sang ‘God Bless America’ during the 7th inning stretch, and also went 2-3 with a triple and stole a base. “Not bad for a Rock Star” said Vedder.

In 2020, Vedder began hoarding toilet paper and decided to use it to entice fans to but their new album. “That’s right” said Vedder, “With every album purchase, you get your choice of a large roll of 2 ply Scott or Charmin toilet paper. It is the best deal since Cheech & Chong included a sheet of rolling paper with their 1972 ‘Big Bambu’ album.” Cheers Eddie!