Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron Takes Lead on Taylor Hawkins Tribute ‘Cold Day in the Sun’
The death of Taylor Hawkins continues to be felt throughout the music industry, with Pearl Jam being the latest to provide a musical tribute to the Foo Fighters drummer. But instead of Eddie Vedder taking the lead, Hawkins longtime friend and fellow drummer Matt Cameron did the honors as he performed the Foo Fighters song "Cold Day in the Sun."
An emotional Vedder did address the crowd beforehand stating, “It’s never easy when you lose someone. As you get older, you’ll notice it starts happening more and more. It’s just where you are on the timeline and where your friends are on the timeline. But sometimes like this, it’s so unexpected, but also, it makes it harder because he was someone who truly, truly loved living life on this planet. I guess the one thing we can be consoled by is the fact that he never wasted a moment, and he did live his life to the fullest. We just want more of it.” The singer then expressed his support for Hawkins' wife and their children before revealing the plan to have Cameron lead the tribute to Hawkins.
Cameron stepped out from behind the kit, taking over vocals and playing guitar on "Cold Day in the Sun," which as many Foo Fighters fans know was the staple Taylor Hawkins-led song within the band's live performances. While Cameron led the tribute, Mark Guiliana sat in behind the kit on drums, while Vedder retreated to the back of the stage with Josh Klinghoffer and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith who played tambourine during the track. You can see fan-shot video below.
The "Cold Day in the Sun" tribute came Saturday night (May 7), the second of a two-night stand at Los Angeles' Kia Forum. The band varied up their setlists from night to night, with the first night (May 6) giving fans the group's first performance of the Yield song "Faithfull" since 2016. Fan shot video of that can be viewed below as well.
Pearl Jam's tour continues this week with shows in Glendale, Ariz. (May 9) and Oakland, Calif. (May 12 & 13). See all of their dates and get ticketing info here.