Saturday Night Live’s historic 50th season has come with plenty of big moments in the 2025 TV guide, including some controversies like Aimee Lou Wood's discourse over "The White Potus" skit and Morgan Wallen's viral walk-off. A lighter development that I love, however, comes courtesy of Bill Burr. Apparently, during the big anniversary weekend, the comedian confronted Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder about the infamous band. Specifically, Burr shared how much he hated the signature ‘90s genre, and I couldn’t love the anecdote more.
Burr, currently a part of the Broadway show Glengarry Glen Ross, stopped in at Late Night with Seth Meyers. The pair talked about the play, along with his new special, Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years (available to those with a Hulu account). Perhaps most memorably, they also covered the backstory of his disdain for Pearl Jam and its frontman. Via YouTube, the comedian revealed that he hated the band when they first popped up because it was a continuing shift in the music scene. He shared:
They always say, like, Nirvana knocked it out. It was Pearl Jam. When Pearl Jam came – That was another one of those grunge Seattle bands. And that's when I was like, ‘Oh, my God. This isn't ending.’ Like, ‘This is just gonna keep coming.’ And then all my bands, Skid Row and all of them, were gone. And it was just these sad guys singing about being under a bridge and not being happy. And I'm like, ‘What happened to nothing but a good time and ignoring all your problems with cocaine, right?’ Like, that was all over.
Bill Burr is just too good holding onto this grudge for a few decades. Even though the world seems to have pretty stark (love them or hate them) views for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder, the Old Dads alum’s grudge on grunge takes the cake. The best part has to be that he isn't wrong. Nirvana showed up first, but Pearl Jam upped the ante.
The multi-decade saga seemed to be officially put to bed at the huge Studio 8H special event (which you can watch with a Peacock subscription). It’s all thanks to the huge anniversary weekend budget that brought in plenty of A-listers. Burr was able to hang with the Vedder during the evening and explain, humorously, the longstanding bone he had to pick with the band. He also stated that he’s now a Pearl Jam fan:
And so I got to sit next to him, and he was like – I did it in good nature. I was like, ‘Man, I hated your band. You ended my thing.’ And he was cracking up. I go, ‘Do you know how long it took me to admit how great a band Pearl Jam is?’ Because now I love 'em. But it was like 20 years where I just, like – I'm not listening to those guys.
Again, there aren’t many like the Breaking Bad alum in Hollywood, and you’ve got to love him for it! For him to feel the vitriol in the first place, hold onto it for so long, get over it, and then share the whole thing with the lead singer is gold. It makes me want to know more of the funnyman’s opinions, including his feelings on the theorized idea about being Billy Corgan's half-brother. I'm sure there'd be more laugh-out-loud hot takes from the 56-year-old. At this point, there’s enough evidence that they aren’t related.
Now that the dissatisfaction for Pearl Jam has disappeared for Burr, I can catch up with the aforementioned March 14th standup and wait for his next grievance to arise. If it’s anything like this one, I will be just as invested.
Also, SNL's scheduled hosts and musical acts continue to bring their A game, with Quinta Brunson and Benson Boone serving as May 3rd’s host and music act, respectively. It’ll be airing on NBC on the eponymous night at 11:30 p.m. EST and available to stream the following day with a Peacock account.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
