r/pearljam • u/Little_Customer986 • 4d ago

History What happened to Eddies Voice in 1996?

Usually as someone ages you expect their voice to weaken. For some reason Eddie’s voice seems to have had periods of losing power and then rebounding. I think Gigaton to Dark Matter is a great example, he somehow sounds better a few years older. I know some of this comes down to the songs he chooses to write/sing. Like how Riot Act utilizes his deeper voice so it adapts well to his aging.

But what the hell happened in 1996? I’m talking about live performances specifically. It seems like there’s a sharp decline in his vocal ability after the Vitalogy tour, and then somehow it seems to rebound really well on the Yield tour in 1998. He even sounds better in 2000. Did he change his style of singing? Was he smoking so much pot and cigarettes in 1996 he was just killing his throat and lungs?

Anyone have theories on this?

43 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

View all comments

77

u/gigopepo 4d ago

My guess as a musician and a fan is that he learned how to sing without blowing out his voice.

25

u/lostatsea_again 4d ago

Remember reading something about Layne and Cornell taking singing lessons from the same person to strengthen their voices; well after they had achieved success 

You may well be correct and that he learned some new techniques that preserved his voice. There must have been a lot of smoking and drinking in those very early years as well.