Pearl Jam Vs. Mötley Crüe Feud Continues As Eddie Vedder Clowns Tommy Lee’s Drumming

“‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and Mötley Crüe: I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.”

The most unexpected feud of early 2022 has Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder trading barbs with Mötley Crüe in a rock rivalry that’s straight out of the early ’90s.

Vedder–who is on tour supporting his new solo album, Earthling–first goofed on the veteran hair metal outfit in when he recalled working at a San Diego concert venue before joining Pearl Jam in an interview with New York Times Magazine. 

Vedder said, “I’d end up being at shows that I wouldn’t have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-’80s MTV. The metal bands that — I’m trying to be nice — I despised. ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and Mötley Crüe: Fuck you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.”

Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx responded by tweeting, “Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history, it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?” The bassist also added that Vedder’s vocals sounded like he had “marbles in [his] mouth.”

Pearl Jam responded by tweeting from their official account: “We love our bored fans,” along with video footage of a wildly enthusiastic crowd singing along to a performance of “Given to Fly.”

Vedder fired up the feud again during a New Jersey solo concert on February 6th. Playing with his Earthlings band that features Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith on drums, Vedder cracked, “That drum kit — that silver, beautiful machine that he is the engine of — does not need to elevate or rotate to do its job. Let me just point that out,” Consequence reports.

The comment was seen as an obvious poke at Lee’s 1980s-style stunts that include playing upside down inside of a rotating drum coaster. The drumming diss comes as Lee’s infamous sex tape with Pamela Anderson is the focus of Hulu’s new Pam & Tommy series.

While many fans would argue that Pearl Jam has remained more relevant than Mötley Crüe over the years, you can currently see Vedder on his U.S. tour in support of Earthling AND catch the Crüe’s upcoming US stadium outing with Def Leppard launching in June, with support from Poison and Joan Jett.