He was previously a guest vocalist for supergroup Temple of the Dog, a tribute band dedicated to the late singer Andrew Wood.

Vedder, who is known for his baritone vocals, was ranked seventh on a list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time," based on a readers' poll compiled by Rolling Stone.

His mother and brothers moved back to the Chicago area, but Vedder remained with his stepfather in California so he did not have to change schools.

During his senior year at San Dieguito High School, Vedder moved out to live in an apartment and supported himself with a nightly job at a drug store in Encinitas.

[20] Through the Southern California music scene, Vedder met former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons, who became a friend and would play basketball with him.

The songs tell the story of a young man who, like Vedder, learns that he had been lied to about his paternity and that his real father is dead, grows up to become a serial killer, and is eventually imprisoned and sentenced to death.

At the time, Gossard and Ament were working on the Temple of the Dog project founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a musical tribute to Mother Love Bone's frontman Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose at age 24.

[27] Pearl Jam, initially called Mookie Blaylock after the former National Basketball Association player of the same name, was formed in 1990 by Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready,[22] who then recruited Vedder as lead singer but hired and fired three different drummers.

[37] Feeling the pressures of success, with much of the burden of Pearl Jam's popularity falling on Vedder,[22] the band decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos.

Pearl Jam's contribution to the 2003 film Big Fish, titled "Man of the Hour," was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2004.

Vedder collaborated with Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for his contributions to the Dead Man Walking soundtrack.

Thom Jurek of AllMusic called the soundtrack a "collection of folksy, rootsy tunes where rock & roll makes fleeting appearances.

Vedder performed the songs "Break on Through (To the Other Side)", "Light My Fire" and "Roadhouse Blues" with the remaining members of the Doors at the 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Bradley Cooper, who wrote the screenplay, produced, directed, and starred in the film as Jackson Maine, hung out with Vedder for four or five days to get some tips from him about the character.

[81] During the band's appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1992, Vedder stood up on his stool during the instrumental break of the song "Porch" and wrote "PRO-CHOICE" on his left arm with a magic marker.

[83] Pearl Jam played a series of concerts on the 2004 Vote for Change tour, supporting the candidacy of John Kerry for U.S. president.

[84] In 2005, during Pearl Jam's first South American tour, Vedder said, "next time we come to Brazil, the world will be a better place to live, as George Bush will no longer be the President of the United States."

In an interview with Larry King on December 19, 2007, Damien Echols, who was then on death row for the murders, said that Vedder had been the "greatest friend a person could have" and that he had collaborated with him while in prison.

[95] Greg Prato of AllMusic said, "With his hard-hitting and often confessional lyrical style and Jim Morrison-esque baritone, Vedder also became one of the most copied lead singers in all of rock.

Other influences that Vedder has cited include Pete Townshend and the Who, which the singer considers to be his favorite band of all time,[97] the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Fugazi, and the Clash.

[101] Other recurring themes include the use of water metaphors,[102] and the concept of leaving everything behind to start again, which is featured in "Rearviewmirror", from Vs.; "MFC", from Yield; "Evacuation", from Binaural; and "Gone", from Pearl Jam).

"[105] Vedder began incorporating social commentary and political criticism into his lyrics and performances early in his career with Pearl Jam.

During Pearl Jam's 2007 Lollapalooza headlining show, Vedder and the band played a song telling the crowd in Chicago to boycott the oil company BP because they had been polluting Lake Michigan.

[112] Singers Roger Daltrey of the Who,[113] Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden,[114] and drummer John Densmore of the Doors have praised him for his singing ability.

[119] While living in the basement of Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis' house in Seattle in the early 1990s, Vedder was roommates with Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell.

[124] The divorce happened around the same time as the biggest tragedy of Pearl Jam's career, when nine fans were crushed to death during the band's set at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on June 30, 2000.

[124] In an interview with Chris Cornell's daughter Lily in 2020, Vedder explained that their show started on a high because they had just been told about her birth, until about 40 minutes into their performance when the tragedy happened.

[133] In 2014, Vedder and McCormick co-founded the EB Research Partnership,[134] a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for the genetic skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa.

[143][144] During his solo concert in London on June 6, 2017, Vedder talked for the first time about Cornell since his death on May 18, 2017, saying that "he wasn't just a friend, he was someone I looked up to like my older brother" and "I will live with those memories in my heart and I will love him forever".

[161] The annual series between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres is often nicknamed the Vedder Cup due to both cities being hometowns of the singer.