Eddie Vedder on Looking Back and Moving Forward
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, on stands and in the digital archive now, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder opens up to Brian Hiatt about his band’s 20th anniversary and his lovely new solo album Ukulele Songs. Vedder tells Hiatt that he’s happy to honor Pearl Jam’s history, but is eager to move forward with new music. “Being nostalgic is like taking an offramp and getting a sandwich – and then you get back on the highway,” he says. “I don’t want to be spending the rest of my life at the gas station.”
Photos: Buffalo Springfield Kick Off Their Reunion Tour
Rolling Stone also chatted with Robbie Robertson about his new collector’s set and forthcoming memoir, talked to the Cars about their first album in 24 years, honored the late, great Gil Scott-Heron, previewed a portion of David Browne’s new book Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970 and reviewed Death Cab for Cutie’s concert in Manhattan.
Hottest Live Photos of the Week
Plus, American Idol winners Scott McCreery and Lauren Alaina answered your questions, chillwave pioneer Toro Y Moi performed a brief acoustic set at our office, pop-wise scuzz rockers JEFF the Brotherhood were named our latest Band to Watch, we analyzed this week’s pop charts, looked back on this week in rock history and, as always, we reviewed all the week’s biggest new releases.
Peter Travers’ Dozen Must-See Summer Movies
On the pop culture front, Peter Travers had a fascinating chat with the unhinged actor Gary Busey about his recent run on Celebrity Apprentice, a particularly gruesome scene in his forthcoming movie Pirahna 3DD and his history of drug abuse. He also reviewed Mike Mills’ excellent new drama Beginners and X-Men: First Class, which he says is “a primal blast of a prequel, a potent reminder of what jazzed us about Bryan Singer’s first two X-Men and the Marvel comics that spawned them.” Also, Mallika Rao recapped the latest episode of NBC’s hot singing competition The Voice and determined that judge Adam Levine’s team of singers was the best on the show.
Photos: Sasquatch Festival 2011
The final round of the Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone contest is under way! After over half a million votes were cast online, the 16 acts vying for the cover of Rolling Stone – as well as an Atlantic Records contract – have been narrowed down to two finalists: Canadian boogie rockers the Sheepdogs and Los Angeles singer-songwriter Lelia Broussard. If you’re not already familiar with the bands, you can check out videos, free downloads and interviews, or catch them when they play an epic battle of the bands at the Bonnaroo festival on Saturday, June 11th. Vote for your favorite now!
We also posted a gallery of your Top 10 favorite summer jams of all time, as determined by your votes on Facebook and Twitter. Our question for you this weekend is: What is the best Neil Young song of all time? You can answer on our website, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter with the #weekendrock hashtag.
LAST WEEK: Rolling Stone’s Wild Week With Lady Gaga