Ongoing History: Eddie Vedder, presidential advisor
On April 9, 1994, there was an unusual meeting in the Oval Offices. Eddie Vedder met with President Bill Clinton to discuss some serious matters. The original purpose of the visit was to meet with advisor George Stephanopoulos about a potential Pearl Jam tour of military bases. But once the band arrived, Clinton’s secretary directed them to the Oval Office.
The president wanted to talk about the news of the previous day. April 8, 1994, was when we heard about the death of Kurt Cobain and Clinton wanted some advice from Eddie about how he should deal with it. “Should I address the nation?” asked Clinton.
Eddie advised against it because of the potential of copycat suicides. Clinton took Eddie’s advice and let the news play itself out.
As far as anyone knows, this is the only time a grunge band was asked to contribute to presidential policy.
