Pearl Jam Honors Chris Cornell, Tom Petty, And Raises $11 Million During Hometown Shows

This past weekend Pearl Jam kicked off their mini North American tour at Seattle’s Safeco field. The band treated the crowd to some impressive covers, were joined on stage by some musical guests, and have helped raise money and awareness for Seattle’s homeless population.

According to Rolling Stone, Pearl Jam played two nights at Seattle’s Safeco Field which is home to the baseball team the Mariners. The band treated fans to wide array of hits, deeps, and some impressive covers which included artists such as The White Stripes, Neil Young, and MC5.

On Friday night, the band paid tribute to two fallen icons, Chris Cornell and Tom Petty. The band debuted their rendition of an obscure Chris Cornell track entitled “Missing.” The song is from a five-song EP entitled Poncier that Cornell released in 1992 and featured some of his work from the Singles soundtrack. The song was performed live back in 2016 when Cornell reunited with Temple of the Dog.

Pearl Jam, which features former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, was joined on stage by former bandmate Kim Thayil who also played guitar in Soundgarden. Thayil stayed on stage with the band for trio of songs that included “Search and Destroy” by the Stooges, “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5, and “Sonic Reducer” by the Dead Boys. Mudhoney singer Mark Arm also joined the band as well.

Watch the performance below

Frontman Eddie Vedder honored Tom Petty Friday night as well. During the band’s second encore, Vedder took to the stage to perform Petty’s hit “I Won’t Back Down,” a song that the band performed frequently throughout their career. “We have his songs forever, and if there’s some kind of way he’s out and about, up there metaphysically in some kind of way, I feel like I … just really want to get his attention … and tell him I miss him,” Vedder said to the crowd.

Watch the performance of “I Won’t Back Down” below

In addition to rocking Seattle for the first time in five years, Consequence of Sound reports that band has also helped raise $11 million dollars in support of Seattle’s homeless with 90 percent of the proceeds going to various organizations.

Marty Hartman, owner and director of Mary’s Place (which is one of the 40 organizations to receive help from the band), commented on Pearl Jam’s efforts by stating, “This is what those ‘Home Shows’ can do. Literally, bring more people home, out of those cars, out of those tents, up off the sidewalk and give them a safe space to be and get them into their forever home.”

Mary’s Place provides temporary housing to homeless women, children, and families. The organization is a non-profit and recently opened their doors on Wednesday at its first official private shelter.

“Up until now, we’ve been in buildings that are slated for demolition,” Hartman explained. “This is the first time we’ve ever bought anything. This is our first home purchase.”

Thanks to Pearl Jam, almost 80 of Seattle’s restaurants have participated and donated some of their proceeds from Wednesday night to the band’s “Home Away” fund.