He's very much associated with the Seattle music scene, but Eddie Vedder was born in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, and moved to San Diego with his family in the mid-'70s. He came to Seattle when the band Mother Love Bone lost their lead singer to a heroin overdose, and members formed a new band. Looking for both a drummer and lead singer, they approach Jack Irons from the Red Hot Chili Peppers about playing drums. Iron's couldn't take the gig, but knew Vedder and delivered the band's instrumental demo tape to him. In one day, Eddie wrote lyrics to the three songs, put his vocals on them using his 4-track home recorder, and sent the tape to the band, earning him the Pearl Jam lead singership.
Eddie's biological father left the family when he was one year old. His mother soon remarried and Vedder was raised to believe his stepfather Peter Mueller was his biological father, an event he mentions in the song "Alive." He received a guitar from his mother on his twelfth birthday and music and basketball soon became two of his passions.
As a senior in high school, Vedder lived on his own but had a hard time balancing school with work. He dropped out of high school but earned his GED in the early 1980s while working as a waiter.
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