“This gentleman was someone we looked up to before the Ramones." Watch Pearl Jam rock Nashville with one of the biggest rock stars of the '70s

Pearl Jam were joined onstage by a special guest at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena last night (May 8), veteran British rock Peter Frampton.

And vocalist Eddie Vedder explained in detail why the Nashville resident is something of a hero to the Seattle band.

“This gentleman was someone we looked up to before the Ramones. Some of our first guitar heroes, [like] Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend, he was right up there,” Eddie Vedder told the crowd at the 20,000 capacity venue when introducing the 75-year-old Bromley-born musician, as reported by Rolling Stone.

Referencing Frampton's hugely successful 1976 double live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, Vedder added, “It was one of reasons why we loved live records, and later we decided to release bootlegs because of his influence. He’s such an incredible human being on top of it. It is our honour, because at this point he’s become a good friend to the group. He’s recorded with Mike [McCready, PJ guitarist] and [drummer] Matt Cameron and we get to play with him tonight.”

Frampton then joined the band to perform Black, from their 1991 debut album, Ten.

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Last year, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons declared that no-one aged 20 or younger could name a single song by Pearl Jam.

Simmons made this curious comment in a recent podcast interview, in connection to his long-standing argument that rock is dead.

In conversation on The Zak Kuhn Show, Simmons pointed out that in the 30 years between 1958 and 1988, the world saw the appearance of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Prince and many more global superstars.

"And from 1988 until today, it's something like almost 40 years, certainly 35 years, who are the new Beatles?" he asked.

When Kuhn mentioned Pearl Jam, Simmons praised the Seattle quintet, but added, "My point is if you randomly walk down the street and you ask the first young person you meet, a 20-year-old, and you say, 'Name me anybody in Pearl Jam,' good luck with that. 'Name me or tell me a song. Hum a song.' They [can't]."

"The masses have no idea who's in Phish one of my favourite bands, or Pearl Jam. They wouldn't have a clue, unless you're a fan."

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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.