Eddie Vedder paid tribute to the late Mark Lanegan during his Seattle concert last night (February 22nd).
The Screaming Trees singer sadly passed away at age 57 yesterday. The news shook Vedder, as it did much of the rock world. He took the stage in a state of grief, and at one point, paused to honor Lanegan and pay respects on behalf of the entire Seattle scene.
“I got here about four o’clock and all of a sudden my body started shaking a little bit,” Vedder told the audience, as captured by a fan video. “I started to feel really terrible and I think it was because I was having an allergic reaction to sadness. Because we lost… there’s a guy called Mark Lanegan. You know, there are a lot of really great musicians, some people know Seattle because of the musicians that have come out of the great Northwest. Some of those guys were one of a kind singers. Mark was certainly that and with such a strong voice.”
Vedder continued: “It’s hard to come to terms, at least at this point. He’s gonna be deeply missed, and at least we will always have his voice to listen to and his words and his books to read, he wrote two incredible books in the last few years. Just wanted to process it and put it out there, let his wife and loved ones know that people in his old stomping grounds have been thinking about him and we love him.”
Vedder and Lanegan came up together through the Seattle grunge scene in Pearl Jam and the Screaming Trees, respectively. Though the Trees wouldn’t achieve the enduring commercial success of their peers, Lanegan would go on to have a prolific solo career and collaborate with Queens of the Stone Age, Isobel Campbell, Greg Dulli, and many more. To celebrate Lanegan’s massive legacy of recorded output, we picked 10 of his finest moments as a singer and songwriter.
There are two more dates left on Vedder’s US tour in support of his new solo album, Earthling. Snag your tickets here.
Watch Vedder’s tribute to Mark Lanegan below.
