The only ex-drummer who’s never made it back onstage with the band breaks it down: “The first 15 minutes would be hugs… and then it’d get ugly real quick.”
Former Pearl Jam drummers have always somehow found their way back to the band – all of them, except one.
Dave Krusen, the drummer on Ten, reunited with the band during their 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and even stepped in again in 2022, filling in when Matt Cameron had to sit out after catching COVID-19.
Matt Chamberlain, who played with PJ for a few months in 1991 and appears in the official Alive video, was in the audience at the Hall of Fame and has been the drummer for Painted Shield – Stone Gossard’s side project with Mason Jennings and Brittany Davis – since 2020.
And then there’s Jack Irons. The guy who handed Eddie Vedder the demo tape from Gossard and Ament back in 1990 – helping kickstart the whole Mookie Blaylock thing – was also the official drummer from ’94 to ’98, playing on No Code and Yield. He’s even jumped back on stage with Pearl Jam a few times, starting with the Riot Act Tour in 2003.
So yeah – all of PJ’s ex-drummers have kept some kind of connection to the band.
Except for one: Dave Abbruzzese.
And let’s be real – if you’re reading this, chances are you’ve asked yourself the same thing we all have:
Could Dave ever come back? Even just for a song or two?
That exact question came up in a YouTube video by 2020d a few years back, when a fan straight-up asked:
“Every time I go on the internet and hear your name, it’s always like: ‘Dave Abbruzzese should be back in Pearl Jam.’ Is that something that could ever happen for a nerd like me?”
Abbruzzese – who played with PJ from 1991 to 1994 – didn’t sugarcoat it. His answer was as raw and real as it gets: “I can’t imagine it. It wouldn’t be up to me, but at this point I just can’t imagine it. The first 15 minutes would be hugs, sure, but then the royalty talks would come up, percentages and stuff… and it’d get ugly real quick.”
It’s a tough pill to swallow for anyone still holding onto hope, but it also speaks volumes about how deep the wounds run from a breakup that was never really cleared up.
Abbruzzese was the drummer during Pearl Jam’s most explosive era, laying it down on Vs. and Vitalogy – two albums that helped define the ‘90s alt-rock sound. But his split from the band in 1994 remains one of the murkiest chapters in PJ history. The reasons – a mix of personal and professional drama – have never fully come to light, and clearly, some stuff’s still unresolved.
Despite the love fans continue to show him – with many still pissed about his exclusion from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Dave’s words kind of slam the door shut. We’re not just talking about hurt feelings here. We’re talking legal stuff, money stuff, maybe even some emotional baggage still hanging in the air.
Will we ever know for sure? Probably not. But after hearing Dave talk like that, it’s hard to picture any sort of reunion happening. Still… never say never.
I mean, if Axl Rose and Slash could bury the hatchet, and if – apparently – Oasis is actually getting back together in a few months, then who knows? Maybe someday, ten years down the line, the guys roll through Texas on tour, and Vs. is turning 40, and boom – an encore with Go, Animal, W.M.A. and Blood.
Stranger things have happened. Rock and roll has taught us one thing: Never say never.
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1980. He created pearljamonline.it in 2001 and wrote the first edition of “Pearl Jam Evolution” in 2009 along with his wife Daria. Since 2022, he is behind 2 podcasts: “Pearl Jam dalla A alla Z” and “Fuori Orario Not Another Podcast”. He has collaborated with Barracuda Style, HvsR, Rolling Stone, Rockol and Il Fatto Quotidiano. He continues relentlessly to try to find “beautiful melodies that say terrible things”.
Favorite song: Present Tense
Favorite album: No Code
Favorite bands/artists other than PJ: Tom Waits, Soundgarden, Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital, Dead Kennedys, Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, R.E.M.