Last week, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder debuted a new song at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Titled “Better Believe,” Vedder co-wrote the track with teens from the local nonprofit Guitars Over Guns.
Following their performance at the ceremony, Vedder gifted one of the program’s young musicians one of his own guitars.
Sharing a video of the touching moment on Instagram, Guitars Over Guns Chicago wrote: “@eddievedder has a heart like no other. After working closely with Bella for the performance at the Obama Center Grand Opening, he gifted her one of his own personal guitars to own and to remember him by. Bella and her mom have always been big fans since Bella’s mom was a teenager. This moment encapsulates the heart, Soul, and power of music. It can heal, it can build confidence and bring us all together ❤️.”
As he surprised Bella with the guitar, Vedder said (as transcribed by Alternative Nation): “So, you know when you go to school and you need a pencil case? You need more than one pencil, right? … You might need one more guitar as well.”
“This is one I’ve had for a long time… And, I think it’s going to be very happy in your hands. So, take care of it. Play it,” he added, as she began to literally jump for joy.
The gift left Bella’s mom visibly stunned. “13-year-old me is dying inside right now. I had him on my wall, on my poster. And he’s right here giving my 12, almost 13-year-old daughter a guitar.”
She then reflected on what the moment meant to her as a parent.
“Look, from a little rocker girl from Indiana who didn’t have parents who supported her and pushed her to do anything, I swear to God, I’m not going to do that with my kids,” she said. “I’ll never tell them, ‘Don’t be weird. Stop dyeing your hair. Why are you wearing black? Stop being different, you have to fit in with everyone else.’ I didn’t do that with her.”
“I let you shine,” she told her daughter. “You’re different, you’re unique, you shine. You gotta be yourself. Don’t let nobody stop you from being yourself. And then, full circle…”
Crying, Bella’s mom thanked a tearful Vedder: “Thank you so much. You literally healed that deep scar in me that I had, you healed that with this. You don’t understand, you lit a fire in my daughter that I know that I’m never going to extinguish, ever. I’m just going to nurture it and help it. She’s going to be freaking colossal. Thank you so much, You don’t understand. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
By the end of the video shared by Guitars Over Guns Chicago, there was not a dry eye in the room, as everyone – including Vedder and his family – could be seen wiping away tears.
