Eddie Vedder Quotes

I had a kind of artrock band called Peanut for a while, which eventually helped me over my fear of singing. That was a big step for me. I never dreamed I could sing songs in front of people.

When you are on stage, you don't see faces. The lights are in your eyes and you see just this black void out in front of you. And yet you know there is life out there, and you have to get your message across.

I didn't grow up jumping in front of the class and performing, but I definitely had a hunger to be creative.

When I was 14 and went on the stage for the first time, it stimulated me so much that I was convinced that I didn't want to do anything else.

Half the time, when I first run onstage, I can't look directly at the audience just because of self-consciousness. It's human nature. Sometimes you feel like the man, and sometimes you don't. But sometimes that self-conscious energy is good for the show, it draws people in more.

I wasn't comfortable on stage for years. It was good - 18 shows. I want to do it again.

I finally felt that I came into my own when I went on the stage.

It took me a long time to be alright with smiling onstage.

Going out on a stage publicly and not knowing how people are going to react to you - once I experienced that, it made me feel much more comfortable about going into a scene.

The minute you step onstage, you get eight feet taller.

I was terrified of being on stage, and I had to work very hard at a craft to get past that.

For many years, I didn't even like the idea of doing a one-person play. Public speaking got me past that. I've always been good at public speaking, but I never really enjoyed it. Then I started to really enjoy it, and that's made all the difference.

Going on Letterman is like going off the high dive. It's exhilarating, but after a while it wasn't the kind of thrill I enjoyed.

I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them.

When I performed at 'Open Mic U.K.' I had this connection with the audience that I'd never felt before, and I loved it. It was my first big thing, and looking out into the crowd... was just amazing.

I've always had this passion to be creative, and wanted to sing or be in bands and make music, but I didn't have ideas as to what format it'd be, or how I'd do it. I'm not very good with plans. I didn't think it would be me at the front, either. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that was something I'd prevent.

Eight shows a week is daunting, and it can be terrifying. But it just instills such a sense of confidence and growth.

I forgot how scary plays are. The audience is so much a part of the night - I know that a lot of it is trying to shut that out and just do your own thing.

I think it's really, really good for me to be on stage once a year. It keeps your chops good. There's nothing else like it.

I know when I am on stage and I'm kind of on the right track - hopefully most of the time. But a lot of time I'm not.

I found at an early age the times when I learned the most about myself was when I got thrown out there on a stage in front of a microphone when you didn't really want to be out there, where you're kind of afraid.

In high school, I was too shy to perform. It's one thing to get laughs from your family, to be funny at parties and in class. It's another thing to get up on the stage.

People don't know what it's like standing up there onstage, when you have a wall of people smiling at you.

Certainly, being on stage is a rush.

Well, a lot of people don't know this about me, but I'm actually shy around people I don't know. I would just say with my first concert, my first tour, I didn't really talk onstage. I was like, 'Thank you, I love you guys,' or whatever. But now I've just kind of learned to work a crowd.