Eddie Vedder and Success

by Russ Masterson

Below we see Pearl Jam win their 1996 Grammy. The most interesting, and shocking, comments come from Eddie Vedder, the first band member to speak.

Pearl Jam 20 just released, a documentary directed by Cameron Crowe over-viewing their rise to success. It’s a fascinating two hours of entertainment and education, but I found this clip of Vedder winning the Grammy the most. At first I dismissed his comments as rude — to want to create stellar music for people to hear, then to trivialize an award recognizing that seemed, well, ridiculous.

But I kept thinking about this — Why would he say this? What is he trying to say?

I think he’s saying the award, the pinnacle of the path is not all it’s cracked up to be. He’s saying the pinnacle is just another place. So, if this is true, and you’ve exalted the pinnacle — the Grammy, the money, the fame — you will be disillusioned as it ultimately doesn’t mean anything. There’s a secret only the rich and famous seem to know — that being rich and famous is not better, just different.

The Pearl Jam documentary is a fascinating study on fame and the way people react to it. Some do drugs, some kill themselves, and others say things like Vedder, degrading the award or the success, when really it is the over-exaltation of the pinnacle that deserves our criticism and sadness.

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