Eddie Vedder has sat down with his late mate Chris Cornell‘s daughter Lily for a deep & meaningful pow-wow as a guest on her new Instagram TV series, Mind Wide Open.
The series explores the issue of mental health and sees the celebaby reflect on her own experiences dealing with the tragic loss of her father. Her 26-minute chat with Vedder yielded plGTenty of meaningful insights as well as a bunch of interesting tidbits about the Pearl Jam legend’s friendship with her dad.
“We discuss societal and political impacts on mental health, Eddie’s own experiences, and the importance of activism and empathy,” Lily writes in the video’s caption.
You can watch the whole thing, and check out 5 of the most interesting takeaways we had from the chat, below.
1. Vedder heard the news of Lily’s birth just minutes before Pearl Jam walked onstage at Roskilde 2000, the tragic festival appearance that saw nine fans trampled to death
Vedder: “It was cold and it was raining. There wasn’t a couch in our trailer. There was just a cooler and a deli tray. We got the news that our good friends Chris and Susan had just had a child. Her name was Lily. We kind of cried some tears of joy. We all gave each other a hug. That was a huge, huge moment. And then we went out with you on our minds — you who we hadn’t even met yet — and we were feeling empowered and emotional. And then maybe 40 minutes into the show these terrible events happened.”
2. Eddie & Chris went on an epic mountain hike together shortly after Soundgarden wrapped recording of Badmotorfinger in 1991
Vedder: “We went swimming in the coldest ice pools and we climbed these green mountains and then onto this rock mountain. The rocks [started] crumbling. All of a sudden, we were both just like two Spiderman impersonators hanging onto the side of this thing, not being able to move. Just stuck and 50 feet above the fucking valley floor. We just started laughing almost to tears. The situation was so ridiculous. Nobody knew where we were.”
3. Vedder truly believes the angst of grunge music was legit
Vedder: “Your dad and I talked about music or art as a place of release. Obviously he had [his] music and those are some dark lyrics. Kurt [Cobain]’s lyrics, those were some dark lyrics. Layne [Staley]’s lyrics [too]. These weren’t people going, ‘I’m going to pretend to write a dark song’. It was real for everybody … It became a thing to make fun of the dour grunge groups. I think people took it personally. They were like, ‘We weren’t fucking around’. That’s probably why people liked it and seemed to need it. ‘This guy is speaking for me. I feel these things’.”
4. He was super inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s 2016 memoir Born to Run
Vedder: “Bruce talks about depression in his book. You watch him onstage and the hold that he has, he’s solid as a mountain. He knows how to make 60,000 people happy. But going home and being happy at home is a tougher thing. He credits not just his wife, but some great therapy. And now he’s a brilliant guy to seek advice from himself.”
5. He’s optimistic about the future
“With racism and same-sex marriage and so many issues out there, I think in one or two generations it’s not going to be how it’s been. It feels like the death grip to me of white supremacy. I feel like that’s why it’s so intense right now. In some ways, it could be the last grasp of that stuff.”
