The album Eddie Vedder said “saved my life”
As a teenager, Eddie Vedder used music as a source of escapism, allowing him to temporarily escape his bleak reality. The Pearl Jam frontman’s life was in chaos during his teenage years. However, his surroundings vastly improved upon discovering one album from a British band that successfully spoke to him on a level nobody else could.
Vedder’s teenage life was lonely, and music was his greatest friend during these challenging times. Life seemed perfect during the singer’s early years, but everything changed after his parents divorced. He’d also later discover the man who he believed was his father wasn’t a biological relation, a finding which would further cause Vedder’s mental state to spiral.
Thanks to hormones, life as a teenager is difficult for anybody, but what Vedder went through could have led him down a destructive route. Thankfully, he instead turned to music, which proved to be the perfect tool to deal with his inner anguish.
The rock singer opened up about his troublesome youth during a discussion with comedy director Judd Apatow, which appeared in the book Sick In The Head. During their conversation, Vedder singled out The Who’s Quadrophenia as a pivotal album for him, noting how even though Pete Townshend was raised on the other side of the Atlantic, it seemed his work was written personally for the Pearl Jam singer.
When asked about the watershed impact of the 1973 release, Vedder said: “Yes and also saved my life. It was something I could catch, because, for some reason, it seemed like I could not relate to anyone in the world. With no one in my school and certainly with no one in my house, and all of a sudden, this London guy named Pete (Townshend) came in who knew everything that was going on in my life.”
He continued: “I was about 13, 14, and all kinds of things were happening to me at the time. I was like, let’s say, a bridge with its structures covering a great and deep abyss, and this bridge was about to collapse, Do you understand me? Throughout this period I was there trying to hold myself.”
Vedder then questioned what his life could have potentially become if it wasn’t for the emergence of Quadrophenia, adding: “It’s a good thing the record shop prescribed me this drug, because it was she who helped me through all that, you know? Even with no response at all, it was important to know that I was not the only one who was going through those things.”
Decades later, Vedder built a personal relationship with his hero, Townshend, who came to his side in his moment of need. Tragically, nine fans lost their lives during Pearl Jam’s show at Roskilde Festival in 2000. As Townshend had been through a similarly horrific incident with The Who, the guitarist inspired Vedder to fight on and continue, which he duly did.
Listen to Quadrophenia below.