How Eddie Vedder Brought The Fenway Park Crowd to Tears on Sunday Night

For Pearl Jam and the crowd they played in front of, it was special.

September 15, 2024, marked the show number 34 for Pearl Jam in Boston, Massachusetts. Frontman Eddie Vedder joked that their first show was at a small club right across the street from Fenway Park and now, so many years later, they've sold out the big stadium twice.

While their first Fenway Park show was filled with plenty of memorable moments, it was a pair of heartfelt stories that Eddie Vedder shared with the crowd that stood out above the rest. Both of those stories brought people in the crowd to tears.

Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell and Tall Trees

Eddie Vedder shared a story about how much he enjoyed climbing trees with a friend of his. And not just as a child, but as an adult. The pair would climb tall trees in Seattle, Washington, specifically, Lincoln Park.

That friend was late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Vedder remarked that he and Cornell would climb those trees to find peace above the noise. To have deep conversations without interruption.

Vedder mentioned that he had recently climbed a tree alone. While it wasn't nearly as much fun, he did encounter a strong wind at the top. He believed in that moment that he heard Chris Cornell tell him, "Eddie, it's ok".

Tim Wakefield, the Knuckleball and Eddie Being "Shattered"

Vedder mentioned that Pearl Jam playing inside of a historic ballpark like Fenway was not lost on him. Many years earlier, he'd be invited to Fenway by a friend of his, that friend was former Red Sox front office executive Theo Epstein.

During Vedder's visit, Jason Varitek asked him to grab a bat and stand in as a pitcher threw a bullpen session. Varitek told Vedder not to move. Stand still. The pitch was thrown and Vedder remarked he thought it was going to hit him in the ribs. Instead, it darted down at the last second for a strike. The pitcher was Tim Wakefield.

Vedder proclaimed that he was gutted when he heard of Tim Wakefield's passing. And that he was even more shattered to learn of Tim's wife, Stacy Wakefield, also passing away months later.

There were few dry eyes in the ballpark as Vedder powerfully sang the words to "Just Breathe".