Eddie Vedder

The lead singer of grunge titans Pearl Jam and a major figure in the alt-rock boom, Eddie Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III in Illinois in 1964) possesses a deep, resonant voice that underscores the emotion of his lyrics. Vedder first collaborated with his future Pearl Jam bandmates on the Temple of the Dog project; Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam’s debut, Ten, came out within months of each other in 1991, and the combined force of the two helped kick-start mainstream rock’s shift toward heavier, surlier sonics. Pearl Jam released records and toured regularly in the ensuing decades, and Vedder began releasing solo music with a contribution to the 1995 film Dead Man Walking; his first solo album, Into the Wild, arrived in 2007. Vedder’s work, both as a musician and an activist, is defined by passion, and that fervency has helped define the ideals of his generation.