Pearl Jam Covers ‘So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star’ For 1st Time Since 2010

Pearl Jam played their first show of 2025 last night at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. The encore saw the band break out a cover of “So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star” for the first time in 15 years.

Thursday’s setlist pulled equally from Pearl Jam’s 2024 album, Dark Matter and their 1991 debut album, Ten, playing six songs each from the records bookending their discography.

After an all-originals main set, the encore began with frontman Eddie Vedder going solo on acoustic guitar for a cover of (Vedder’s “favorite Floridian”) Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” The rest of the band then joined Vedder on “Footsteps” and “Do the Evolution.”

Next came Pearl Jam’s first cover of The Byrds’ “So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star” since May 1, 2010. Thursday’s unexpected setlist appearance marked Pearl Jam’s eighth known performance of the song that appeared on The Byrds’ 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday.

The rest of the encore was made up of Victoria Williams’ “Crazy Mary,” “Alive,” The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” and “Setting Sun.”

Pearl Jam plays Hard Rock Live again on Saturday, April 26. Watch the band’s first performance of “So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star” captured from the crowd below: