Check Out How Your Favorite Musicians Stumbled Into Choosing Their Now-Iconic Names

Eddie Vedder’s Grandma’s Jam Inspired The Name Pearl Jam

Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

1990s rock legends Pearl Jam haven’t been completely upfront over the way they landed on their iconic name. Sometimes it’s reported that the band was named after the peyote jam Eddie Vedder’s great-grandmother used to make. It’s also reported that they’re named after NBA star Mookie Blaylock’s nickname. It’s also slang for male ejaculation, but Vedder totally denies that one. Vedder claimed they named themselves Pearl Jam simply because of how pearls are made.

“The name is in reference to the pearl itself … and the natural process from which a pearl comes from. Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful,” he said. This isn’t really accurate considering natural pearls are formed when an irritant (like a parasite) finds its way inside of an oyster, but who’s going to tell him? He’s a musician, not a marine biologist!