PEARL JAM Covers TED NUGENT, Changes Lyrics To Be Anti-Gun

Update: Nugent responded: “hey Eddie join me on my RAV spirit campfire to discuss how your insane liberal policies have created an explosion in engineered violent recidivism while you fight to disarm helpless innocent citizens.”

Original story: Ted Nugent has ben an outspoken advocate for owning guns pretty much his entire career. Nugent served on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association (NRA) for 26 years, resigning in 2021 over “scheduling conflicts.” Long story short, Nugent is an outspoken conservative and is probably not gonna be thrilled about Pearl Jam‘s take on his 1975 classic track “Stranglehold”.

During a September 12 show in Baltimore, Pearl Jam launched into a partial cover of “Stranglehold” featuring vocalist Eddie Vedder singing “I don’t own a gun, I don’t ever want to own a gun / I don’t own a gun, never want to own a gun” a few times overtop. The cover faded away, Pearl Jam played “Even Flow”, and the political moment was over.

Nugent hasn’t responded to the cover or its lyric change yet, but I’m sure it’ll be even-keeled and totally normal as everything else he’s ever said. The rest of the 25-song set ran as follows:

1. Can’t Keep (tour debut; first time since 2014)
2. Present Tense
3. Given to Fly
4. Corduroy
5. React, Respond
6. Dark Matter
7. Tremor Christ
8. Wreckage
9. Unthought Known
10. Stranglehold (Ted Nugent cover)
11. Even Flow
12. Daughter (with Pink Floyd‘s “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” tag)
13. Deep
14. Upper Hand
15. Do the Evolution
16. Jeremy
17. Lukin
18. Porch
19. Falling Slowly (The Swell Season cover) (with Glen Hansard)
20. Black
21. Spin the Black Circle
22. Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover)
23. Alive
24. Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)
25. Yellow Ledbetter