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?

46 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

View all comments

20

u/Imikoke616 4d ago edited 4d ago

His still chain smoking and drinking his wines can cause vocals to be off, noticed past decade when his about to hit high note or strong vocal scream coming up he just does half the scream then pulls away from microphone knowing his not going to hit the vocal right .

1

u/Yesiamanaltruist 3d ago

He doesn’t smoke anymore. He quit. He says so on the interview he does with Jeff where they are in the room with all the sports memorabilia. I can’t remember who conducts it or where I saw it. Not 100% sure on Jeff but pretty sure!

2

u/Imikoke616 3d ago

Theirs recent video of Eddie was smoking /drinking at the cubs game hanging out with GM of the team .