When did you first hear Pearl Jam and when became a fan?

pandora · June 2009

late night in bed 1992 mtv jeremy video came on been hooked ever since

inhiding 1976 · June 2009

It was around 1992, just about ready to be a freshman in high school. I was at a friends house and a dude we call "Sheeba" walked in wearing headphones. After a few hours of partying while Sheeba was in another room I decided to pick up his headphones and listen. My world has forever changed since that moment. I asked Sheeba what he was listening to, who is this? He simply replied Pearl Jam. Sheeba was slightly older then me.

Being young and just getting my license and listening to the radio and being a fan of rap, Peal Jam is what my brain and ears were waiting for. Sheeba had to go, and I didn't know what I was going to do, I met a girl whom had the "ten" tape. That's right I said tape, I borrowed it from her for weeks and that is all I listened to. She wanted it back and immediately I was thinking of a way to scam this tape off of her. It didn't work I had to give back the tape. I have never been so determined to hear a band in my life. Cd's.....What????????? I bought the CD and have been rocking to PJ ever since.

inhiding 1976 · June 2009

OH yeah I almost forgot. I love Sheeba, I will always miss you man! See you in heaven.

morgie2 · June 2009

First time I saw Jeremy on MTV in 1992. I was officially hooked, however, when I saw PJ play Animal on the MTV music awards. Move over Beatles, move over Led Zep, Pearl Jam has claimed my soul.

YoullseeDragons · June 2009

In 1991. My grandmother passed away in October of 1990, she was a cool lady. She appreciated all types of music, played the paino. She would let me listen to all sorts of recods at her house, from Steppin' Wolf to Ray Charles. She even bought me the "Dark Side of the Moon album when I was about 9-years-old, she appreciated the album as much as I did. When she passed I was pretty devistated. Then in early 1991, WMMR started playing this band Pearl Jam and the song was "ALIVE"!! It made a connection that "I'm still alive" and part of her music appreciation lives with me forever. That is my story, thanks for the oppertunity to open my Pearl Jam soul to all of you!! PEACE!!!

strangesttribe007 · June 2009

It was in '98 just before my 12th birthday. There was a guy that just graduated college and became good friends with me and my dad and he tought us the game of golf at this muni course where we lived and he brought me to a junior tournament to play in. He had a vedder look with the hair and right when we got in the car satan's bed was on and he asked me what i thought eddie was saying during it. We listened to them the whole drive and I got home after the tournament and made my pops drive in town and bought 2 pearl jam cds and listened to them ever since. That guy who showed them to me is still one of my best friends and has become pretty much a brother i never had and we still talk about pj all the time

lawguy · June 2009

Lets see. The first time I ever remember PJ was seeing the Jeremy video on MTV before school. This was 91 or 92 and my family just got cable. My older sister made us later for school because she was watching the video. I remember seeing it, but I didnt really care because I was not into music at all as a kid. A few years later, I am in high school (still not a music fan) and my older sister would listen to music in her room. I would be laying in bed and listening to whatever she played because our rooms were right next to each other. Every night she would play Betterman. Thats the first PJ song I loved. I remember laying in bed hoping that she played Betterman that particular night.

Fast forward a couple years later. It is the summer of '98. I still was not a PJ fan at the time per se, but I decided to buy Yield. It was literally one of the fist albums I bought and I was 18 years old. I had just graduated high school. Me and two of my siblings went to Alpine for my first PJ show. I cant remember much of it now. I recall getting towards the end of the show and I just assumed they would play 'Jeremy' as the closer as I assumed it was the big hit everyone wanted to hear. They didn't play it. I wasn't angry, but I do remember being surprised. I felt like it was going to a Springsteen concert and not hearing 'Born to Run' or a Billy Joel concert without 'Piano Man.' I wish I could remember more but since I wasnt a real fan at the time, I didnt soak it all in I guess.

Fall of '98, I am a freshman in college. I went literally across the country without knowing a soul to school out on the coast. To entertain myself I bought a discman and a Dave Matthews cd. My cd collection now consisted of Yield, a DMB cd, and a few others that my siblings had grown tired of. The guy in the room next to me had a pretty good cd collection and I would borrow cds every now and again to listen to as I was going to sleep. One night I grabbed Ten and listened to it. That is when I became hooked. Long story short, I never gave my buddy Ten back. I went out and got all the cds. I joined the fan club a few years later. Been to a ton of concerts since. I still wouldnt call myself a "music fan" since I don't generally seek out new music or go to concerts of bands I dont know, but I am indeed a big Pearl Jam fan.

Jebber · June 2009

1991 Halifax Nova Scotia Canada.

pjyouaremine · June 2009

This may sound crazy but the first time I heard Pearl Jam was in 2005, when a friend of mine let me borrow his ipod. I randomly listened to the ipod until I heard EV's voice, that was it. I fell in love with it and have been listening to Pearl Jam everyday since. I immediately went and bought an ipod and put every song I could possibly get on it. Imagine having available and hearing all their songs for the first time all at once. It was totally insane. I have about 2300 pearl jam/ev songs on my ipod now, and must say I am one of their greatest fans. I can't even dream of what my life would be like without them now. Pearl Jam rules. I just lost my sister to cancer and if I did not have them to listen to I don't know what I would have done.

I have seen them many times in the past two years and can't believe how good they are live. Where was I all those years......I was lucky enough to see Eddy two weeks ago in Albany. I got to hear him sound check and had first row seats. Shook his hand. OMG Greatest day of my life!!!! Just feel bad for people who don't get it, because of Pearl Jam I will never have another bad day again.

Catwoman1 · June 2009

When I first saw the Jeremy video on MTV in 92, when I was in my late 30's, I thought the song was very good, and the lead singer very hot with those incredible eyes. But I didn't buy the album right away because I've bought one too many albums based on one song and was disappointed. Then one night I was flipping the channels, and caught Unplugged. By Black I was hooked, and by Porch I knew that this group was something very special. I went out the next day and bought Ten, and have been buying every studio album since then on the first day of its release. I then shared this new passion with my kids. In 2003, I got them tickets to see Pearl Jam outside of DC at the Nissan Pavilion. They refused to go unless I went with them. I thought I was too old to go to a rock concert (I was in my late 40's by then), but I went and had a blast. Everyone made me feel so part of the experience. Now I've been hooked on the concerts too, and have continued sharing PJ with my kids.

primussucks · June 2009

Bought Ten summer of 93 at Best Buy in La Crosse. Been hooked ever since and bought evry album the day of release ever since. In fact could tell ya where I bought every album to.
Vs. - Dick's Supermarket Prairie du Chien, WI.
Vitalogy -Pamida York, Nebraska
No Code-Target Delafield, WI.
Yield-Best Buy Brookfield, WI.
Binaural-Shopko Watertown, WI.
Riot Act-Best Buy Madison, WI. (East Town)
Lost Dogs-Best Buy Madison, WI.
Avocado-For some reason can't remember this one
ITTW-Best Buy Delafield, WI.

formerly ferniegirl · June 2009

I fell in love with PJ after seeing the video for Jeremy in the fall of 93, they've been my favourite band ever since.

Tone · June 2009

It's hard to remember... I think I heard them for the first time late in '91 while I was finishing high-school, everyone was all about Nirvana and Seattle and I was emerging from a very heavy Doors & Jim Morrison phase. I guess I became a fan more or less straight away, there was so much great music around, I was 18, out of school and trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

I remember watching the 3 hours of MTV, that we had broadcast on Channel 9 on Friday and Saturday nights in Australia, and watching footage of Lolla in '92 and so desperately wanting to be there... PJ, RHCP and Soundgarden. I finally got to Lolla 15 years later and it was great!

So, the Chili Peppers held the #1 spot for me early in '92 but they gave way to Pearl Jam sometime mid '92... the only artist that came close to having a crack at their position was Jeff Buckley, but really I don't believe anyone will ever take their place for me. They have been my favourite band for 17+ years and I don't see that changing.

adamg5 · June 2009

First time I heard evenflow on mtv. It changed my life forever. I love PJ sooo much!
Ten was my first tape I asked for from my parents to buy me for xmas....i had no money
I'll never forget hearing them that day and listening to the whole tape in my room thinking wow this is amazing!

dimitrispearljam · June 2009

mtv...jeremy video ,and i see after the mtv unplugged,,,after that end my favorite band search....

Jeff Murray · June 2009

When I was a freshman in college in the fall of '91 I was tired of the hairbands and was looking for music with an edge, I was just getting into the underground scene, went to school with a couple Fugazi CDs and looked for others that had the same tastes in music. And boy did I meet some people with some great taste in music (Red Hot Chili Peppers, NIN, Jane's Addiction, Rollins Band, etc). So to stay on top of things and be the first to find a new band and build some "cred" I would tape 120 minutes (An Alternative Music Video show) on MTV to find new music. Yes MTV used to play music before it became RTV (Reality Television)!! I saw the Alive video and got hooked. Went down to Record Revolution, luckily Mansfield had a record store, and talked to the sales clerk and he sold me a promo copy of Ten cheap. Needless to say I got my money's worth from that CD. I ended up having to buy a couple copies of Ten because it was played at the parties too much and would get scratched. I can remember the sing a longs we would have at the top of drunken lungs with some great friends. And since college is where I sort of grew up, Pearl Jam has been the soundtrack of my adult life and keeps me young. I have and always will be a little kid when a new PJ album drops. My friends don't necessarily understand my geekness when it comes to PJ, but that is alright, I have come to meet a lot of great friends over the years going to concerts and now have my group of friends that I geek out with when my PJ meter hits a frenzy.

My first PJ show was in '96 at Merriweather Post in Md, incredible time. After that I kind of fell off the map regarding concerts, not until State College 2003 did I start becoming a huge concert fanatic and since then I try not to miss a local show and now even travel for shows when vacation allows. So now my family and friends just smile and shake their heads when I tell them that I am heading to Chicago to see Pearl Jam, they know better then to ask why.

zisfor · June 2009

I was in my mid 20’s when Ten was released. Being a teenager in the 80’s I really didn’t listen to much current music. Couldn’t enjoy hair metal and no internet back then to find those good under the radar bands. So I mostly listened to 60’s rock and didn’t give much thought to current music. One night I caught the video for Alive on TV and thought “WOW. This is what rock music should be”. Bought Ten loved it and then Vs when it was released. I am ashamed to admit that I kind of lost track of Pearl Jam for the next 10 or so years after those two albums. Life happened and stuff like that. I still liked them just didn't follow them. Then last year while following the Bonnaroo festival read lots of good stuff about the Pearl Jam performance. I bought the bootleg one thing led to another found other bootlegs (thanks to this forum) and bought all the albums. Now I am completely hooked. Look I am posting on a forum...a first for me! I thought maybe I am too old to attend a Pearl Jam concert but after seeing Eddie Vedder in Baltimore I have decided I am going when they play DC again.

JD2381 · June 2009

They were on an ABC Friday Night music show (I think it was called "Friday Night"?) in early '92, I think (I'm a CRS sufferer). I really liked what I saw and went out and bought 10.

I enjoyed 10, but what really turned me into a fan was seeing them at the '92 Bridge School Benefit. Their power wasn't diminished at all in an acoustic setting, and the show really blew me away.

craigb · June 2009

I first heard PJ in 1998. I was born in 1990, so I pretty much missed out on their heyday.

My dad had a copy of Ten, and I was just looking through his CDs and found it. I immediately loved it and searched some more, finding my dad's copy of No Code (I think he was a pretty casual fan who loved Ten, then stumbled across No Code later and thought he'd give it a try. At first, I wasn't too fond of No Code, either).

I listened to Ten constantly over the next 9 years, going through many musical phases (classic rock to alt rock to classic rock to pop to classic rock to alt rock, etc.)

This is where I became a fan: It was my english teacher who told me about Vs. and Yield, two years ago. I was casually discussing music with him when he expressed his love for these albums. I immediately bought Vs. online and loved it. Then I found Yield and Avocado at a Best Buy. Great! Over the last 2 years I have bought everything PJ that I could, and I hope to go to my first concert this year...

En La Clandestinidad · June 2009

Mid-October 2008, nearly 25 years old. I bought Vitalogy and live Mansfield boot on November 1st and have been super hooked ever since. I know not much time as a fan, but whatever!!

When did you first hear Pearl Jam and when became a fan?

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