Eddie Vedder’s new solo album features Sir Ringo Starr, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
The Pearl Jam frontman has unveiled the star-studded tracklisting for his upcoming LP, ‘Earthling’, which also boasts contributions from Irish songwriter Glen Hansard, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and their former guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
The Grunge veteran has also released the moving new single, ‘Brother the Cloud’, and shared the heartwarming story of how the vocals of his late father, who died when he was 13, made the record.
In an interview with MOJO magazine, Eddie shared: “I didn’t really get to know my real father.
“I met him maybe three or four times as a kid, but he was, you know, a friend of the family. It would have been nice to have been in a room with him at some point before he died when I was 13. It would have been nice to share that I knew that he was my pop, but it didn’t happen.
“But the crazy thing that did happen was that about 10 years ago, the Chicago Cubs, some of their old timers get together and play baseball for about a week, and I would go down there every other year and hang with these guys, learn about the game more so I can teach my kids more, you know, I coach baseball.
“One of the ex-players, this erudite badass trumpeter, who used to play third base, his name is Carmen Fanzone.
“He also became head of the Musicians Union in Los Angeles – an incredibly cool individual. I saw Carmen playing the horn in a little club in Arizona, and this guy playing keyboards with him had been best friends with my dad.
“Two years later, he brought me some photos of them in little basement studios.
“Then a couple years after that, he brought me five songs of my dad singing, on a disc. I carried that disc around for two, three months in my suitcase, not ready to hear it.
“Finally, I got the guts, and after a couple bottles of wine played it one night in Argentina. And he was good. It was incredible – like he left a message for me.”
The ‘Alive’ rocker concluded: “I thought of the record like a setlist – by the end, that’s when you start bringing out special guests.
“We had Stevie and Elton, Ringo was an incredible addition … and then my pop gets to be on a record with those guys, which is not too shabby.”
‘Earthling’ is released on February 11.
The tracklisting for ‘Earthling’ is:
1. ‘Invincible’
2. ‘Long Way’
3. ‘Power of Right’
4. ‘Brother The Cloud’
5. ‘Fallout Today’
6. ‘The Dark’
7. ‘The Haves’
8. ‘Good and Evil’
9. ‘Rose of Jericho’
10. ‘Try’
11. ‘Picture’
12. ‘Mrs. Mills’
13. ‘On My Way’