(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Fri 20 February 2026 22:00, UK
There aren’t many occasions when Eddie Vedder can be left lost for words. After all, the man is one of the last true surviving angry rock stars.
This might seem like an odd moniker to coin, but it’s one that the Pearl Jam frontman has somewhat come to be known by: broiling, brooding, and always with an unerring sense of fury in his eye. It was the reason why, in 2017, when Bono was asked why rage is missing from rock and roll, he responded: “Eddie has that rage.”
Yet through all that persona of wrath and vengeance, all it took was for one particular voice to kick into gear, and Vedder could be stopped in his tracks. Stock still, silent, speechless. It was the unmistakable and majestic tone of this individual that made him beloved all over the world, but that was only through the speakers – imagine hearing him right in front of you.
After all, there could only ever be one Jeff Buckley. He was the musician who possessed the almost spectral ability to bring even the most severe and inimitable of all rock stars completely to their knees, tears streaming down their faces and left forever changed by the power of his voice. If it’s not clear enough by now, Vedder was prime among them.
Of course, it never took much for anyone to sing their highest praises for Buckley, but when given the opportunity to do just that one time on Monkeywrench Radio, Vedder couldn’t help but recall the magical experience of having the singer right in front of him, staring him straight in the whites of the eyes and having him perform. There was nothing more ethereal.
After having listened to his song ‘What Will You Say’, the Pearl Jam frontman enthused: “Man, I had this guy with me once, and we were sittin’ down and talkin’ and jammin’. He played a version of ‘Indifference’ for me. Man, I tell ya… I’ll never forget the way he did it. I was just fucking speechless. One of the most memorable moments of my life… I just wish I had seen him more.”
Indeed, that sentiment, however tragic on the face of it, is one that seems to resonate up and down every inch of the rock and roll canon. Just look at Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison – they were the truly effervescent and transcendental ones, yet a major part of the reason that they have become enshrined in this way was because they never stayed for long in the first place.
Buckley was no different in this regard, and although his untimely death at just 30 years old left the musical world reeling, it was mainly down to the realisation that while he had been here, he was a god amongst men. How do you ever reconcile with the fact, as disciples to the cause, that you had lost your ultimate leader?
This is something that has clearly never left the hearts and minds of anyone in the rock business, not least Vedder, who is left seared with the memory of Buckley singing straight into his face. He may not have known the magnitude of that at the time, but by describing it as “one of the most memorable moments of my life,” the frontman can see the magic of exactly what he experienced.