Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #1

#1, MATT CAMERON STEPS DOWN FROM THE RISER

We love it when this list is positive, but sometimes the big news is painful.  The number one, most consequential moment of the year for Pearl Jam fans was the shocking news that Matt Cameron was stepping down as Pearl Jam's drummer.  By every measure, the split was amicable, but sadness abounds.  Should we have known because Cameron has been struggling with pain in his wrists for some time?  Sure, but a Pearl Jam fan is an eternal optimist.

There's still no word as to who might be stepping in to fill his shoes. Josh Klinghoffer has been carrying some weight for the band, but he's not really a drummer.  Jack Irons stepped in last year for a couple of songs, but he's no spring chicken. Richard Stuverud and John Wicks are band friends, but have never played at the level we've come to expect from a Pearl Jam show.

There's a never ending list of possibilities, but we'll likely know in time for his replacement to make our 2026 list.

On a positive note, Cameron also celebrated his second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Soundgarden next month, and he's mentioned that he does intend to still work on projects, so he'll still be floating around when Pearl Jam tours again.

 

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #2

 #2, RALEIGH & PITTSBURGH

Alright, let's finally talk about the music, the shows.  2025 saw the end of the an epic, two-year tour in support of Dark Matter.  Pearl Jam closed out the tour with 4 epic shows in Raleigh, where they haven't played in 22 years (12 years since they even came to NC), and Pittsburgh, where they haven't played in 12 years (a fact that didn't get past Brad Klausen, as his poster pays homage to the 2013 poster by Munk One).

 

It may be a while before we hear from Pearl Jam again, and they seemed to know that as they opened Raleigh for the first time ever with "Setting Sun" and rolled out amazing rarities in Raleigh like "Light Years," "Hold On" (14th time ever and first since 2018), and 2025's only performance of "Waiting for Stevie."  They created a new Easter egg in Pittsburgh with the Hand Trilogy ("Severed Hand," "Upper Hand," and "Sleight of Hand") after almost doing it in Raleigh.

Other rarities in Pittsburgh included "Man of the Hour," "Low Light," and they showed love for Cornell with a performance of "Hunger Strike."  In fact, they weren't just honoring Cornell, it turns out, but we'll say more about that later.

Ultimately, it was an amazing tour, ended in an amazing fashion.  These four shows for fans who were, frankly, starving for a Pearl Jam fix were absolutely the highlight of the Dark Matter Tour.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #3

 #3, EDDIE ON SNL50

This year, Saturday Night Live turned 50, and on their anniversary special, we were treated to two appearances by Eddie Vedder.  His first was during a medley of songs by Andy Sandberg's Lonely Island comedy trio where he covered Michael Bolton's role on the song Jack Sparrow.

And later, he covered Tom Petty's "The Waiting" and paid homage to Elvis Costello's perforance from 1977 in which Costello bailed on "Less Than Zero" to play his anti-corporate "Radio Radio." Ed switched out "Radio Radio" for "Corduroy," but still earned a thanks from Costello via Twitter.

Thanks for the tip of the brim, Eddie. Always happy to do some unpaid script work for my old pals at SNL. Great show all around. @eddievedder, #mslaurenhill wow!!#bonnieraitt#postmalonenivarna#devo#cher, #jackwhite Congrats from @ElvisCostello https://t.co/9IzQj5M8AG

— Elvis Costello (@ElvisCostello) February 15, 2025

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #4

 #4, MIRRORBALL REISSUE

Alright, alright, this is the last of the big reissues this year.  Also at the 30 year mark, Neil Young released his 6th volume of reissues, which happened to include Mirrorball, the album he recorded with Pearl Jam.  Pearl Jam, of course, was referred as "The Band," for dumb legal reasons, but their identity was the worst kept secret of 1995.

Currently, you can only score Mirrorball on vinyl if you're willing to shell out $180 for the boxed set that includes it along with Neil Young's Havest Moon, Unplugged, and Sleeps with Angels.  A huge percentage of Pearl Jam fans are also fans of Young, so that may be a no brainer for some.  The rest of us will have to wait until later in 2026, when Neil puts the 4 individual albums up for sale.

Hopefully, they'll be some cool shit coming next year, so this one won't repeat in the Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2026.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #5

 #5, THE MOTHER LOVE BONE REISSUES

Roughly tied to Mother Love Bone's 35th Anniversary, Pearl Jam reissued the two albums released by Mother Love Bone.  Unlike previous reissues, this announcement split Shine and Apple (as they were originally released) onto two separate vinyl releases (color and black).  At the same time, the surviving band members created a "Japanese-exclusive" CD set including both albums in a mini-gatefold.

Also, in honor of the band's legacy, Jeff and Stone also released d an HD remaster of The Love Bone Earth Affair, a 1993 VHS documentary directed by Josh Taft about Mother Love Bone released after the release of their original compilation album (now Apple and Shine).  

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #6

 #6, THE MAD SEASON REISSUE

When you follow a band that's been recording for over 30 years, sometimes the big news is old news, and this is the first of three reissues on our list.

This year, Mad Season celebrated 30 years since their only album, Above, by releasing numbered reissues on vinyl in five different color variants and a fresh remaster.  As part of the reissue, liner notes were updated with notes from Barrett Martin and Mike McCready, and each double album included the songs recorded with Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) on vocals from the 20th Anniversary and Mad Season's cover of "I Don't Wanna Be a Solder" (Lennon).

For many fans, who haven't had a chance to own this quintessential album on vinyl, it was a great find!

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #7

 #7, NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE

In April, the Bridge School released a collection of Neil Young covers called Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Volume 1.  The artists involved included Brandi Carlile, Fiona Apple, the Doobie Brothers, and our favorite, Eddie Vedder covering "Needle and the Damage Done."

A haunting and fantastic rendition, worth checking out if you missed it this year.  You can pick it up most anywhere and proceeds benefit Young's Bridge School.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #8

 #8, RECORD STORE DAY

Record Store Day nearly always makes at least one appearance on our yearly top ten list.  This year Eddie Vedder put the two covers he released in 2024 ("Save It For Later," originally by The Beat, and "Room at the Top," originally by Tom Petty) onto a 12-inch single.  Fans could score it on "ocean floor" blue vinyl or "sky blue eco vinyl" depending upon this place of purchase.

The other fun release was the vinyl release containing the Best of the Music For Our Mother Ocean compliations.  The original three(?) compilations benefitted the Surfrider Foundation (presumably this one did as well).  Although "Whale Song" was shunned, this release did give us "Gremmie Out of Control" mixed in with original releases by the Beastie Boys, Primus, and Snoop Dogg with Rage Against the Machine.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #9

 #9, MATTER OF TIME

For #9, another movie.  In 2023, Eddie Vedder did a pair of shows at Benaroya Hall in Seattle to benefit the Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Partnership, and earlier this year, Matter of Time, a documentary produced by Door Knocker Media in association with the Vitalogy Foundation debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival chronicling the search for a cure to EB and using those shows as a backdrop to the story.

To date, the release of the movie is very limited, but hopefully 2026 will give more fans a chance to see the show at home if not in more theaters.

In the meantime, you can donate directly to the EB Research Partnership here.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #10

#10, SONG SUNG BLUE

This Christmas saw the release of Song Song Blue, a movie directed by Craig Brewer, staring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, about the Milwaukee Neil Diamond cover band, Lightning and Thunder.  Deep, deep Pearl Jam fans may know that Eddie Vedder joined the band on stage at Summerfest in Milwaukee in July of 1995.

The movie recreated that moment with actor, Craig Brewer, stepping in as young Eddie Vedder.  The scene took a lot of liberties, but it was fun to see a Pearl Jam moment recreated on the big screen.

Check out the movie in theaters.  Here's a clip from the 2008 documentary by the same name, which hopefully will end up on streaming services soon.

Happy Birthday, Eddie Vedder!

Credit: Geoff Whitman

 

React / Respond Book

 Pearl Jam announced today that they will be releasing a book of photographs from the Dark Matter tour by in-house photographer, Geoff Whitman.  The 224 page book of 125 photos releases on April 18th, 2026.  You can pre-order the book now for $75 (+ $10 domestic S&H).

Whitman joined the band for this run, starting out by immersing himself in the crowd to capture the shows exactly as fans experienced them—energetic, and in the middle of it all! As the tour moved forward and his relationship with the band developed, he gained further access to backstage and behind-the-scenes moments. Even with that expanded access, Whitman kept the fan perspective at the center of his work, letting it guide how he documented each night.

The photographs in this collection bring those viewpoints together, blending the immediacy of the crowd with a growing look behind the scenes to present a genuine, dynamic record of the Dark Matter tour.