Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder Performs at President Obama Fundraiser

Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder Performs at President Obama Fundraiser

2012-09-22

Story by Anne Erickson

Eddie Vedder took his tunes to a Florida fundraiser for President Obama this week

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder took his solo act to a special fundraising event for President Obama at a South Tampa, Fl., home on Thursday (Sept. 20). As The Hollywood Reporter reports, the famed grunge singer performed four songs on a mandolin, an instrument he’s been using often for his solo shows. The set list included “Rise” from Vedder’s “Into the Wild” soundtrack; “Without You” off his latest solo album, “Ukulele Songs”; a cover of James Taylor’s “Millworker”; and a cover of the Neil Young track “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

Vedder didn’t just bring his music to the event. He also put in his two cents about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s infamous statement that 47 percent of voters will vote for Obama no matter what and that they get away with no paying federal income taxes. “It’s very upsetting to hear a presidential candidate be so easily dismissive of such a ginormous amount of the population,” Vedder said.

Vedder reminisced about his days before making it in the music business, working as a supervisor at a petroleum company. He says the job enabled him to save money to pay for guitars and other gear from his band. Vedder stated that, “for me, it all began with that ability to get the proper training for a decent job.”

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.