Eddie Vedder took time out to look back at his birth father whom he barely knew, and recounted some performing advice handed down to him by Bruce Springsteen. Spin.com reported Vedder, whose parents divorced when he was a toddler, only met his father once in the early-1980's — and only then believed him to be a friend of his parents. His natural father soon died of Multiple Sclerosis before the two could form any form of relationship.
During his appearance on the Daddy Issues podcast, hosted by sportscaster Joe Buck and actor Oliver Hudson, Vedder explained, “I have this image, this spiritual energy up there somewhere where I can feel him look after me. Sometimes I’d feel I’m playing certain songs or certain places and I’d feel like his energy — like, 'I think he’s watching his kid right now.'”
He went on to talk about the “what-ifs” regarding the father he never knew: “Who knows where his trajectory was headed? He could have turned into a complete knucklehead. He could have been an a***hole drunk who tried to pick up groupies backstage. Who knows? So in a weird way, he died young enough to not f*** me over personally. He kinda gets to be on a pedestal, (and) I’m happy for him for that.”
Vedder also discussed how one of his primary heroes, Bruce Springsteen, prepped him for performing as a solo artist, prior to his own one-man gigs in support of his Into The Wild project: “(He said) 'There’s a real power when it’s just one person up there. It’s terrifying — for the audience even. It’s a tight-wire act. There’s just something, an intimacy in it, and there’s a power in it.” That was one of the greatest things to hear because suddenly (I) didn’t feel as vulnerable.”
