It’s official: Pearl Jam is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Apr 7, 2017, 6:21 PM | Updated: Apr 8, 2017, 5:41 pm
Pearl Jam. (AP)
(AP)
Pearl Jam was among a group of bands that put Seattle on the musical map in the early ’90s. On Friday, they officially become part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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It’s been a long road, but music journalist Charles Cross points out that Pearl Jam traveled it much differently than others — rarely stopping to yield or look in the rear view mirror.
“Pearl Jam began on Eastlake Avenue playing the Off Ramp,” Cross told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don. “They came out of the ashes of Mother Love Bone.”
“Nirvana broke first in the fall of 1991. Pearl Jam’s record ‘Ten’ came out almost the same month as Nirvana,” he said. “But Pearl Jam in 1992 started outselling Nirvana.”
It seemed as if its albums were given to fly off the shelves. But Cross notes that the band had no problem allowing fans to record their live shows, which never stopped them from recording deep oceans of music over the years to come.
“It wasn’t that Pearl Jam put records out every year for the last 26 years, their discography has a couple of 3-year gaps,” he added. “But the reason they stayed together is that, no. 1, unlike every other Seattle band, no one died. And no. 2, no one had drug or alcohol problems that were so severe that it sidelined the band for too long.”
As of April 7, 2017, Pearl Jam joins the ranks of Heart, Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana — also artists from Seattle.
Like an elderly woman behind the counter in a small town, they remain a reminder of a Seattle many still cherish. Cross covered a lot of the band’s history while chatting with Ron and Don. Check out the full conversation here.
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder giving #RockHall2017 induction speech pic.twitter.com/ggcEzQNa0p
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 8, 2017
Pearl Jam performing at #RockHall2017 pic.twitter.com/ZjSXy1QsYm
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 8, 2017
Pearl Jam delivered searing versions of “Alive,” “Given to Fly” and “Better Man” at tonight’s #RockHall2017 https://t.co/pi21msEdfY pic.twitter.com/rzFIqafEup
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 8, 2017
Read David Letterman’s moving #RockHall2017 induction speech for Pearl Jam https://t.co/BvBCAt1w8L pic.twitter.com/rWN6NcXCrL
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 8, 2017
