Eddie Vedder

I was just listening to Eddie do a cover of hunters collectors son" throw your arms around me" and it got me to thinking about the stars lining up. The band Pearl Jam was actually never supposed to be and Eddie was never even the front man. Originally the entire band minus Eddie was called Mother Love Bone , but as most bands have a habit of having happen to them the lead singer, Andrew Wood who was a leading force in the band died only days before the release of the slated "big break" album "apple" came out diminishing any hopes of the breakout they had worked so hard for, Wood who had a history of drug addiction had overdosed on heroin and was in a coma for a few days before succuming to his addiction.The remaining band members led by Gossard and Ament went to Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell who would later also front Audioslave and asked if he would be interested in recording a single containing 2 songs written in tribute to the late Wood.The single became an album and the mini super group would take the name Temple Of The Dog , they found Eddie Vedder thru Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons who gave Eddie  a tape of a band looking for a lead singer while eddie was pumping gas in seattle, and before long he sang on Hunger Strike on the temple of the dog album, he got along so well with the band Pearl Jam would soon be formed. the band Mother Love Bone had a demo tape sent to them by Eddie with 3 songs about a serial killer imprisoned and sentenced to death the three songs were "alive" "once" and "footsteps" the songs have found different meaning over the years but the beginnings of them stemmed from Eddie's realization that his father wasnt who he thought and his real father had actually died and had once met him without eddie even knowing who he was. The band impressed with what was on these tapes were in and the rest is history.When i hear eddie singing even a cover , the song takes a new form or shape, sometimes stars line up and i think of all the people i have met in my life doing just rudimentary jobs just paying bills trying to get by and they could very well be holding something back or not getting the chance to release it. Eddie was working at a gas station and probably looked down upon by people as an attendant i know i was every time i had jobs of this nature, sometimes you never know who you are buying a coffee from or getting gas from,sometimes the lightning never gets in the bottle and sometimes the stars do line up, i am grateful they did at least once.long live Eddie