In 1984, Vedder returned to San Diego with his girlfriend
Beth Liebling and his friend Frank. While living in the
San Diego area, Vedder recorded
demo tapes at his home and worked various jobs, including as a contracted security guard at the La Valencia Hotel in
La Jolla. Vedder had several stints in San Diego area bands, including Surf and Destroy and the Butts. included future
Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave drummer
Brad Wilk. In 1988, Vedder became the vocalist for
Bad Radio, a San Diego–based progressive
funk rock band. The band's original incarnation was influenced by
Duran Duran; however, after Vedder joined, the band moved to a more
alternative rock sound influenced in part by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Temple of the Dog In the 1980s, Vedder worked part time as a night clerk at a local
gas station. Through the Southern California music scene, Vedder met former
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer
Jack Irons, who became a friend and would play basketball with him. Later in 1990, Irons gave him the demo tape of a
Seattle band looking for a singer. Vedder listened to the tape shortly before going
surfing, where lyrics came to him. He wrote lyrics for three of the songs in what he later described as a "mini-opera" entitled
Momma-Son. The songs tell the story of a young man who, like Vedder, learns that he had been lied to about his paternity and that his real father is dead, grows up to become a serial killer, and is eventually imprisoned and sentenced to death. Vedder also provided background vocals on several other Temple of the Dog songs. In April 1991,
Temple of the Dog was released by
A&M Records. "Hunger Strike" became Temple of the Dog's breakout single; it was also Vedder's first featured vocal on a record. "I really like hearing that song. I feel like I could be real proud of it – because one, I didn't write it, and two, it was such a nice way to be ushered onto vinyl for the first time. I'm indebted to Chris (Cornell) time eternal for being invited onto that track", Vedder said in 2009. The band was forced to change its name when they signed to
Epic Records in 1991, becoming Pearl Jam, and instead naming their debut album
Ten after Blaylock's jersey number.
Ten became one of the best-selling albums of the 1990s, being certified 13× Platinum. The single "
Jeremy" received
Grammy Award nominations for
Best Rock Song and
Best Hard Rock Performance in 1993. Pearl Jam received four awards at the 1993
MTV Video Music Awards for its music video for "Jeremy", including
Video of the Year and
Best Group Video.
Ten ranks number 209 on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of the
500 greatest albums of all time, and "Jeremy" was ranked number 11 on
VH1's list of the 100 greatest songs of the '90s. '' as part of a feature article on the rising popularity of the
grunge movement Following an intense touring schedule, the band recorded its second studio album,
Vs., which was released in 1993. Upon its release,
Vs. set the record at the time for most copies of an album sold in a week, and spent five weeks at number one on the
Billboard 200.
Vs. was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 1995. From
Vs., the song "
Daughter" received a Grammy nomination for
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and the song "
Go" received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. Feeling the pressures of success, with much of the burden of Pearl Jam's popularity falling on Vedder, Vedder's issue with fame came from what he stated as "what happens when a lot of these people start thinking you can change their lives or save their lives or whatever and create these impossible fuckin' expectations that in the end just start tearing you apart." In 1994, the band began a much-publicized boycott of
Ticketmaster, which lasted for three years and limited the band's ability to tour in the United States. Vedder faced what he called a "pretty intense stalker problem" during the mid-1990s. Vedder would refer to the issue in the song "Lukin" from
No Code. Later that same year the band released its third studio album,
Vitalogy, which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status. On the album, Vedder was featured more extensively on rhythm guitar, and also provided back up vocals and some drumming. The pressure of fame is a common theme of Vedder's songs on the album. The album received Grammy nominations for
Album of the Year and Best Rock Album in 1996.
Vitalogy was ranked 485th on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pearl Jam enlisted former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron as Irons' replacement on an initially temporary basis, Vedder described Pearl Jam's approach in 1998, saying "We've had the luxury of writing our own job description...and that description has basically been cut down to just one line: make music." In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded "
Last Kiss", a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by
J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. It was released on the band's 1998 fan club Christmas single; however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" peaked at number two on the
Billboard charts and became the band's highest-charting single. In 2000, the band released its sixth studio album,
Binaural, and initiated a successful and ongoing series of
official bootlegs. The band released seventy-two such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the
Billboard 200 at the same time. "
Grievance" (from
Binaural) received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. The band released its seventh studio album,
Riot Act, in 2002. Pearl Jam's contribution to the 2003 film
Big Fish, titled "
Man of the Hour," was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award in 2004. The band's eighth studio album, the self-titled
Pearl Jam, was released in 2006. The band released its ninth studio album,
Backspacer, in 2009, its tenth studio album,
Lightning Bolt, in 2013, its eleventh studio album,
Gigaton, in 2020, and its twelfth studio album,
Dark Matter, in 2024. Vedder uses the pseudonym "Jerome Turner" on Pearl Jam records for his non-musical contributions such as design and artwork. He has also used the pseudonym "Wes C. Addle" ("West Seattle"). ==Other musical projects==