In light of the recent Astroworld tragedy that resulted in the death of ten people, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is discussing how the band reacted following a similar incident that happened at one of their shows in 2000. At Denmark’s Roskilde Festival that year, nine people died and 26 were injured in a crowd surge. In his audiobook memoir I Am Mine — which was released before Astroworld — Vedder shares that the tragedy almost led to the band breaking up.
According to Loudwire, the artist coped with the event by going to Europe and taking Spanish guitar lessons, something that would allow him to focus and find peace in conversations that he mostly couldn’t understand. This way, he could privately mourn but still be around people. Other members of the band, however, began questioning the band’s future.
“At least one person in the band,” Vedder said, “Thought that maybe we should never play again, and if that’s something the rest of us didn’t feel, it still was not something that could be easily dismissed. We all had to process something that we all went through as individuals, but also with the help of each other.”
While the band had each other to lean on in the aftermath of the show, Scott performed alone (with the exception of Drake as a guest performer). He has since offered to pay for the funeral expenses of the victims, the youngest of which is nine-year-old Ezra Blount, as well as therapy services provided through BetterHelp. Scott is also facing multiple lawsuits for alleged negligence during the festival.
Photo Credit: Stephen Hoffmeister
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