See Eddie Vedder Perform ‘Comfortably Numb’ With Roger Waters
Eddie Vedder made a surprise appearance during Roger Waters‘ Sunday night concert in Chicago, with the singer appearing on “Comfortably Numb.” The Wall classic has become a live staple for Pearl Jam in recent years.
The performance started with no mention of Vedder’s presence. However, when the first chorus arrived, Vedder quietly snuck out from backstage, took his place in front of the microphone and handled the lines originally sung by David Gilmour.
Vedder stuck around to handle both choruses, assist on acoustic guitar during the song’s climactic outro and take a curtain call with Waters and his band.
The surprise performance marked the first time in nearly five years that the Pearl Jam singer and the Pink Floyd bassist played “Comfortably Numb” together: The two previously teamed on the track at the 12:12:12 Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.
Since then, “Comfortably Numb” has popped up over a dozen times during Pearl Jam concerts – including Bonnaroo – with Vedder performing the song solo on five occasions.
Vedder has made it a habit in recent years of assisting whenever a classic rock act is in Seattle or his birthplace of Chicago. He appeared during U2’s Seattle gig to sing “Mothers of the Disappeared” and when the Sting/Peter Gabriel co-headlining tour rolled through Seattle in 2016, Vedder performed with both singers.
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