Eddie Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III on December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and composer who is the lead vocalist and one of Pearl Jam’s three guitarists. He previously performed as a guest vocalist with Temple of the Dog, a tribute band to the late singer Andrew Wood.

Vedder, famed for his booming baritone voice, was voted eighth on Rolling Stone’s list of “Best Lead Singers of All Time,” based on a reader survey.

As a soundtrack for the film Into the Wild (2007), Vedder released his debut solo album in 2007.

Who Is Eddie Vedder?

Eddie Vedder was born in Evanston, Illinois, on December 23, 1964, to parents Karen Lee Vedder and Edward Louis Severson Jr. When Vedder was a baby, his parents divorced. His mother remarried soon after to a man named Peter Mueller. Vedder was raised believing Mueller was his biological father, and he went by the name Edward Mueller for a while. Vedder’s mother’s ancestors are Dutch, German, English, and Danish; his father’s ancestors are Norwegian (Severson).

Vedder’s family fostered seven younger children in a group home in Evanston. In the mid-1970s, the family relocated to San Diego County, California, including Vedder’s three younger half-brothers. On his 12th birthday, Vedder acquired a guitar from his mother and began turning to music and surfing for solace.

He took particular solace in The Who’s 1973 album Quadrophenia. He went on to say, “When I was around 15 or 16…I was all alone—except for music.” When Vedder was in his late teens, his mother and Mueller split. His mother and brothers returned to the Chicago area, but Vedder stayed in California with his stepfather to avoid having to change schools.

Following the divorce, Vedder discovered the truth about his parentage: Mueller was his stepfather, not his father. Vedder briefly encountered his biological father as a child but was encouraged to believe that Severson was simply a family friend. Severson had died of multiple sclerosis by the time Vedder discovered the truth.

Vedder moved out to live in an apartment during his final year at San Dieguito High School, supporting himself with nightly work at a drug store in Encinitas. Vedder dropped out of high school because of the stress of employment and education. He moved to Chicago with the rest of his family and changed his surname to Vedder, his mother’s maiden name.

How old is Eddie Vedder?

The renowned singer is currently 58 years old.

What is Eddie Vedder net worth?

Vedder is estimated to worth about $100 million.

What is Eddie Vedder nationality and ethnicity?

Vedder holds American nationality and he is of Norwegian, Dutch, German, and Danish descent.

What is Eddie Vedder career?

Vedder returned to San Diego in 1984 with his fiancée Beth Liebling and friend Frank. Vedder created demo tapes at home while living in San Diego and worked several jobs, including as a contracted security guard at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. Vedder has played in various bands in the San Diego region, including Surf and Destroy and the Butts. Future Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk was a member of one of those bands, Indian Style.

In 1988, Vedder joined Bad Radio, a San Diego-based progressive funk rock band. The first form of the band was influenced by Duran Duran; but, after Vedder joined, the band shifted to a more alternative rock sound influenced in part by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Vedder worked as a night attendant at a neighborhood petrol station in the 1980s. Through the Southern California music scene, Vedder met former Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer Jack Irons, with whom he became friends and played basketball. Later that year, Irons handed him a demo tape from a Seattle band looking for a singer. Vedder was listening to the cassette before going surfing when the lyrics came to him.

He penned the words for three of the songs in Momma-Son, a “mini-opera” he later characterized. The songs depict the story of a young guy who, like Vedder, discovers that his paternity was a lie and that his real father is gone, grows up to become a serial killer, and is eventually imprisoned and sentenced to death. Vedder recorded vocals for the three tracks before returning the demo tape to Seattle. The three tunes became Pearl Jam’s “Alive,” “Once,” and “Footsteps.”

Former Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament persuaded Vedder to travel to Seattle to audition for their new band after hearing his recording. They were blown away by his distinct voice. Gossard and Ament were working on the Temple of the Dog project, which was started by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell as a musical homage to Mother Love Bone’s frontman Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 24. Matt Cameron, drummer for Soundgarden, and newcomer Mike McCready were also involved in the project.

Cornell and Vedder performed “Hunger Strike” as a duet. Cornell went on to say that Vedder “sang half of that song not even knowing that I’d wanted the part to be there and he sang it exactly the way I was thinking about doing it, just instinctively.”

What are some of Eddie Vedder Philanthropy works?

Vedder is an environmentalist who supports abortion rights. He also supports gun control.

Vedder and his wife McCormick established the E.B. Research Partnership intending to cure epidermolysis bullosa. Their foundation has raised $25 million towards the discovery of a cure.