A new award celebrates the band’s contribution to music and popular culture.
In 2024, Pearl Jam were honored at the Clio Music Awards, a recognition that celebrates excellence in music advertising. The Seattle-based band received the award for their significant impact on the music industry and their innovative contributions to popular culture.
A year later, on February 26, 2025, the Clio Music Awards further recognized Pearl Jam’s artistic value by naming them Artist of the Year. This prestigious award highlights not only their musical influence but also their social engagement and continued support for charitable causes.
Jeff Ament, the band’s bassist, expressed his gratitude during the acceptance speech: “We are so grateful to be included and recognized by Clio this year. 2024 was an incredible year for the band, starting with creating the artistic theme for Dark Matter with Alexander Gnezdilov and continuing through with the tour merch, the posters, and the stage visuals. Our band is so proud of the incredible stable of collaborators we’ve developed over these last thirty-four years. Honestly, as a kid I probably dreamt more of being an album cover or T-shirt designer than I did of what seemed the impossible: being part of a killer Rock n’ Roll band.
So, thank you to all the artists—you bring so much enthusiasm and creativity to everything we put out there for the fans. Thank you to our crew and our creative team back at the warehouse in Seattle, who facilitate our music, our sketches, and ideas. Thank you, Smitty. Thank you, Siggy. We’ll continue to make shit that we’d want to listen to, that we want to hang on our walls, and that we want to wear ourselves. It’s really been an incredible journey, and we couldn’t do it without everybody. So, thank you.”
The band, active for over three decades, has always used their platform to raise awareness about globally relevant issues, from climate change to human rights. With the release last year of their twelfth studio album, Dark Matter, and a North American tour on the horizon, Pearl Jam continue to make their mark, proving that their cultural relevance and impact remain as strong as ever.
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.