Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready Recording Song For Dying Fan Will Melt Your Heart

6
3051

Comedian Craig Gass told a touching story of Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready doing something incredibly touching for a dying fan on Opie Radio earlier this week. Alternative Nation transcribed the full story.

“Mike is a really selfless guy, he did something for me that was really profound. It’s a really fucked up story. I picked up a walking buddy that I would walk with every day, which sounds silly.”

“I’m a big Seahawks fan, I was at a Seahawks bar in Las Vegas, and this woman [named Rene] came up and said, ‘Hey, my husband [Bob] is your biggest fan, and he’s too shy to say hello to you.’ I said, ‘Well where’s he at? I want to hang out with him!’ So I went over to sit down with him. He’s this really nice a guy, a special ed teacher who lives in Vegas, he’s really overweight, he’s got a shit ton of health problems that has caused him to be swimming in debt.

He was actually in a coma, and they started telling me this amazing story. His wife goes, ‘Yeah, I would go visit him when he was in a coma, and I would play his favorite band on a boombox. He actually had a physical reaction when I played his favorite band, on one of the mornings I came to visit him, he actually had tears coming out of his eyes in a coma.’ I said, ‘Who is your favorite band?’ He goes, ‘Pearl Jam.’ I said, ‘Pearl Jam is your favorite? Do you know that I’m friends with one of the guys in Pearl Jam?’ He says, ‘Yeah, I follow your Facebook page, you get to do so much cool stuff.’

I instantly felt embarrassed that I haven’t done anything nice to deserve fun things, but I do a lot of fun things. I run into Mike about a year into this relationship with this guy that I have, and I said, ‘Hey, I would normally never ask for something like this, but do you know I have a walking buddy?’ He said, ‘You have a walking buddy?’ I go, ‘It’s heterosexual as can be, but I talk to this guy every day, and we go for a walk. This guy is such a fan of your band that he actually had a physical reaction in a coma, his wife played your band while he was in a coma, and he had a physical reaction, and again, I would normally never ask for you to do this, but the next time you guys play in Vegas, is it okay if I send him to the show to meet you?’ He goes, ‘Yeah.’ Then he made a joke, ‘Maybe the band will take him for a walk around the building.’ So he said he would do that, and I was going to surprise Bob with that.

Then last September I got home from a road gig, and the wife called me up and said, ‘I’ve got some bad news, [Bob]’s got 48 hours to live.’ So I get in my car, I landed in LA, I start driving straight to Vegas to be with Bob, and I started texting Mike, ‘Mike, I don’t know if you remember, but you said that you would meet a friend of mine, my walking buddy who is a special ed teacher. He’s not going to get the chance because I just got a call that he’s got 48 hours to live, I’m actually in a car driving to Vegas to go be with him, but I would like you to know what he would have said to you, because he talked about you all the time, and he didn’t know he was going to get the chance to meet you someday.’ So I started writing a fan letter to my buddy, via the conversations I had with Bob, and Mike writes me back and says, ‘What’s his name?’ I said, ‘It’s Bob Miles, is his name.’ After about 20 minutes, he started sending me videos of him playing guitar. He wrote music for Bob.”

“Hey Bob, this is Mike McCready, I got a message from my dear friend Craig Gass, and I want to send you something I’m writing for you right now, so hopefully this helps you in your journey.” – Mike McCready

“He sent me 3 or 4 clips of music that he wrote for Bob, and I called Rene, and I said, ‘Hey Rene, I’m on my way to Vegas, I’m going to be with Bob. I’m coming to be next to him, but if he can watch anything, please play this for him. I’m going to start sending you some clips. The guitarist of his favorite band just started writing some music for him. Mike McCready from Pearl Jam wrote some music.’ So I started sending her the video clips. She went to his bedside, he was still able to listen, he was still somewhat conscience.

She said, ‘Mike McCready from Pearl Jam wrote some music for you, and he wants you to see these messages he sent you.’ He sat up in bed, he tried to hold his eyes open, because tears were pouring out of his eyes, and the last thing he saw was his favorite guitarist of his favorite band playing music for him. That’s the last thing Bob saw before he went under, and that’s the kind of person that Mike McCready is. An incredibly selfless person.”

Watch the interview below, which features a clip of McCready’s message for Bob and music he wrote for him.