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1. What Eddie's real name?

Ed's "real" and legal name is Edward Jerome Vedder. His birth name was Edward Louis Severson III. He was adopted by his stepfather and his name was changed to Edward Mueller. Following the divorce of his mother from his stepfather (whom he not-so-fondly calls "that lawyer fuck"), he again changed his name, taking her maiden name of Vedder.

2. Is Ed Married?

Yes. He married his longtime girlfriend Beth Liebling in Rome, Italy on June 3, 1994 in an unannounced, secret ceremony.

3. How did Pearl Jam get it's name? Are they really named after Ed's grandma Pearl?

Well, the popular explanation of the band name originally came straight from Eddie (when Jeff and Eddie appeared on the radio show "Off The Record" on August 10, 1992):

Eddie: ...it actually goes back to my great grandma, this is a true story, was married to this indian chief and he used to do peyote, I mean that's part of the culture, is to experiment with...
Jeff: nature...
Eddie: ...nature. [laughs] And apparently my great grandma Pearl used to make this kind of hallucinogenic jam/preserve and we don't have the recipe for that. Maybe with all this attention, it'll be investigated.

Over time, however, it became evident that this explanation was one of Ed's many tricks he played on the media during the early days of his "super-stardom". Was he lieing? Well, he clarified what he really meant later:

"I remember throwing words and meanings around for band names. I was writing songs daily and they seemed more important than the name of the band...I didn't grasp at the time how representative it may become, not to mention we were just making a little record that few people would ever hear. So the words came...2, one of which was Pearl. The name of my great grandmother, married to a contortionist. He used to fit himself into a suitcase...one in a long line of peculiar individuals.

Pearl is also a surfing term when you go headfirst and eat it on the face of a wave.

Janis Joplin's greatest record was called Pearl...and, of course, Earl "the Pearl" Monroe who shared the court with Phil Jackson I believe (I often tell people that it was Phils initials that led us to our name). I thought that was much better than the rumor that Pearl Jam was some sort of slang for "ejaculated liquid"..... harsh..... No, I feel that the best justification for the name is in reference to the pearl itself and the natural process from which a pearl comes from. Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful. This is how our band began, taking emotions that we wrestled with personally and letting them evolve into songs. In this way the songs became vehicles in which to deal with it all. Add the volume of loud instruments, amplified vocals, moving chord changes, and it wasnt just shit anymore. It was kind of beautiful... powerful... UNCULTURED! As Johnny Rotten would say later, Anger is an Energy...... And Shit can be Beautiful.

The proof is in the pearl.

4. Does Eddie have any siblings?

Yes. He has two brothers (Jason and Chris) and a half-brother named Mike. It's possible that he also has a sister (whom he thanked in the liner notes of "Ten")

5. What is the tattoo on Ed's right calf of?

It's the logo of the radical environmental group, Earth First! (the exclamation point is part of the group's name, BTW). The logo is a crossed tomahawk and wrench (presumably a "monkeywrench"). Ed is a very vocal supporter of Earth First! and other pro-environmental organizations such as Surfrider.

6. What's the deal with Ed's strange speeches at Awards shows?

Well, he's had two classic moments associated with the Awards shows. The first was the 1993 MTV Video Awards "You can't compare art with art" speech, followed at the 1996 Grammies by the "I don't know what this means, I guess it doesn't mean anything" speech while accepting the awared for Best Hard Rock song, "Spin The Black Circle."

From the ‘93 MTV Awards:

Kurt Loder: Eddie, you had said up there that it was kind of strange to be giving awards for art, that Marlon Brando had said the same thing in turning down the Academy Award -- do you think it sets musicians against each other, giving out prizes?
Eddie: Well, luckily the musicians are big enough to rise above any of that. But the concept is kind of strange -- best actor, how do you give that? They don’t have the same part.
Kurt Loder: True.
Eddie: And I just think any time you start critiquing art, the media, the critics, will start reviewing things against each other, you can’t do that -- art, music, it’s all interpretative. And it’s up to the individual. It’s nice to have affected some people...that’s a positive thing...that’s all you can ask for.

From the ‘96 Grammies:

You can read the complete Pearl Jam Frequently Asked Questions file at The Seattle Schindig
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