Former Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese wondered about the great music he could have made with Pearl Jam had he not been fired in 1994 in a new Rolling Stone India interview.
Rolling Stone India asked, “You’ve been the drummer on two of the most influential Pearl Jam albums. How was that experience? Do you wish things were different?
Abbruzzese responded “Yes. How was the experience? Ha! That is a small question with a huge answer. It was a good experience. We worked our asses off and we generated the success that followed. It was truly amazing to be a part of such a powerful group. From where we were when we were getting started to where we were when I was fired from the band… it was a rewarding experience.
I don’t look at life in such a way that allows me to wish things were different. I make every effort to appreciate all aspects of my life experience. That being said, I do wonder what the music would have been [like] had the band continued with that line up.”
Abbruzzese drummed on Vs. and Vitalogy, two of Pearl Jam’s most iconic albums. Abbruzzese’s firing was largely glossed over in Cameron Crowe’s 2011 Pearl Jam Twenty film, and he was snubbed from induction with Pearl Jam at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Abbruzzese said in an interview with Michael Aubrecht, “That experience began a very challenging period of my life. Being ‘fired’ from a band. Then to be discredited and disrespected and all but written out of the band’s history. The reason for that is a grudge that formed around my participation in an authorized book that was being written as I was fired. I participated in it and it really pissed some people off. I had no idea how far the shadow of profitability extended from the band.”
