Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready discussed Chris Cornell’s death in a new Salon interview, and Chris’ friendship with Eddie Vedder. Alternative Nation transcribed his comments.
“It’s such a sad tragic thing, and I’m still kind of reeling from it, but that’s a good question. In terms of his music and a songwriter, and obviously as a singer, he was one of the best, if not the best to come out of Seattle of that era. He could do demo tapes and play everything on the demo tapes, and you’ll hear that on some reissues of things, and really good too. You’re like god, that guy is good looking, and he can play drums, he can play bass, and he can sing like this incredible singer. I just think his music is that.
Also to know, and for me and Ed, early on he was super helpful, and Ed was saying like a big brother to him in a way, because Eddie came from San Diego, and there was some kind of weird Seattle push back to him a little bit. I remember some of my friends were kind of dicks to him, I was pissed about that, but Chris was not that way, he was very welcoming. He took Ed out for drinks, they went hiking, he said: ‘Look, welcome.’ I think it was because he was roommates with Andy Wood, and he knew Jeff and Stone very well, it’s like, this is there new thing, and I want to be support of that.”
Eddie Vedder recently discussed Cornell’s death for the first time in London.
“So I want to be there for the family, be there for the community, be there for my brothers in my band, certainly the brothers in his band. But these things will take time but my friend is going to be gone forever and I will just have to…
These things take time and I just want to send this out to everyone who was affected by it and they all back home and here appreciate it so deeply the support and the good thoughts of a man who was a … you know he wasn’t just a friend he was someone I looked up to like my older brother.”