Pearl Jam’s hometown shows in Seattle raised millions of dollars for the city’s homeless.
Eddie Vedder and his bandmates performed two nights at Safeco Field baseball stadium last week – their first gigs in Washington State’s largest city in five years – and reportedly generously donated 90 per cent of the $11 million they made from ticket sales to around 40 organisations working to reduce the number of people living rough on the streets.
Marty Hartman, the director of Mary’s Place, an emergency shelter for the vulnerable, told KOMO NEWS: "This is what those ‘Home Shows’ can do.
"Literally, bring more people home, out of those cars, out of those tents, up off the sidewalk and give them a safe space to be and get them into their forever home."
The ‘Alive’ hitmakers also encouraged a large number of local businesses in Seattle to help raise money through the band’s Home Away fund, by donating some of their takings to the cause.
Sara Nelson, co-founder of Fremont Brewing, told the outlet: "Businesses in Seattle want to do the right thing and I think this provides an opportunity to do so, to make a difference."
On the first night of the ‘Home Shows’ on Friday (10.08.18), the grunge rockers paid tribute to late Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell – who tragically took his own life in May last year aged just 52 – by performing one of the late rocker’s most obscure tracks, ‘Missing’, from the 1992 five-track EP ‘Poncier’.
The band – completed by Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron – also treated fans to covers of the likes of The Who, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty and more.
Pearl Jam raise millions for Seattle’s homeless
