Lily Cornell Silver, daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, welcome a special guest to “Mind Wide Open,” her IGTV show, on Monday: Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, who she’s known for most of her life. (Her mom, former Soundgarden manager Susan Silver, was a co-manager of Pearl Jam in the band’s early days.)
“I am thrilled that Ed offered to do Mind Wide Open,” Lily said in a statement announcing the show. “His and his family’s support around my series means so much to me. He has always been like an uncle to me and is one of the pillars of support in my life. I know how impactful his voice is to people around the world and I deeply appreciate everything he stands for, so I am really excited for others to watch and hear his insights.”
In their conversation, Vedder delves into growing up in somewhat tough circumstances and how that experience shaped him in terms of his work ethic, his ability to survive challenging times and how his love of music helped him to find the path that led him to Pearl Jam. He also tells Lily know how proud he is of her activism and passion around Mind Wide Open, as well as his daughter Olivia’s series Let’s Talk.
“Lucky for the planet that you guys are way more intelligent and way more in tune than you know,” he says.
Vedder also shares a moving story about how he and his bandmates learned just moments before going on stage at the Roskilde Festival on June 30, 2000, that Lily had been born — only to experience the devastating loss of life in front of the stage barricade 40 minutes into their set, when nine fans were trampled to death.
“We kind of cried some tears of joy and we all gave each other a hug,” he says. “You were the first baby of all the bands. That was a huge, huge moment. And then we went out, with you on our minds, you who we hadn’t even met yet, and we were feeling empowered and emotional. And then, I don’t know. It was maybe 40 minutes into the show and all the sudden these terrible events happened. We’ve gone through a lot healing with some of the parents of those individuals — the families of those great individuals. We got to know and respect not just them but the pain their families had to go through.”
He also recalls hiking trips with Chris Cornell into “the middle of f—ing nowhere” in his early days of moving to Seattle circa 1990. “He’d pick me up at like 6 in the morning. It was still dark out,” he says. “I couldn’t even figure out how he knew where he was going. I don’t think anybody else would know. You’d have to be, like, a trapper or something.” One day, Vedder and Cornell climbed a mountain and were 50 feet off the ground when the rocks started to crumble. “I just remember we started laughing,” he says. “The situation was so ridiculous. Nobody knew where we were. I’m like, did you tell Susan where we were going? He’s like, ‘Shoot, yeah. I didn’t. I think she’s in Detroit or somewhere.’”
In the post accompanying the show, Lily writes: “I am honored to be joined by a guiding light in my life, Eddie Vedder of @pearljam. We discuss societal and political impacts on mental health, Eddie’s own experiences, and the importance of activism and empathy.
“Reminder to register to vote if you haven’t already! To learn more about the importance of voting, especially in the upcoming November election, check out organizations such as @whenweallvote, @headcountorg, and @rockthevote.”
Launched last month, previous episodes of “Mind Wide Open” featured Dr. Laura van Dernoot-Lipsky of the Trauma Stewardship in Seattle, Dr. Marc Brackett, author of Permission to Feel and founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, TikTok/Instagram influencer Sir Carter, Guns N’ Roses bassist, Duff McKagan and Monique Minahan, founder of The Grief Practice.
