On Saturday night, Pearl Jam hit Chicago’s Wrigley Field, continuing the band’s brief U.S. run of “Home” and “Away” shows, which kicked off with a pair of performances in their native Seattle, Washington. While the sold-out show saw the band performing many of their classic tracks in addition to tributes to Tom Petty (“I Won’t Back Down”) and Chris Cornell (“Missing”), seemingly, what the show will likely be remembered for is the appearance of Dennis Rodman during the show’s first of two encores.
After the encore-opening rendition of “Just Breathe”, the former NBA superstar and five-time NBA champion appeared on stage to give Pearl Jam’s frontman Eddie Vedder a ukelele before his song “Sleeping By Myself”. Rodman, as of late, has become well-known for his close relationship with North Korea, having visited North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, multiple times and serving as a truly bizarre ambassador between the United States and the isolationist country led by dictator and major basketball fan Kim Jong-un.
While the appearance of Dennis Rodman was no doubt surprising to many, it’s not necessarily totally out-of-left-field. Rodman has gone on the record as a major fan of the iconic rock act, having made guest cameos at several of their concerts over the years. Rodman also publicly thanked Eddie Vedder on television earlier in 2018 while he was on hand in Singapore for Donald Trump’s North Korea Summit. As he explained in an interview last year, “I went and got that album [Ten] and I would played it every day. For some reason, [“Black”] was on, I think that saved my life.”
Before giving Vedder his ukelele, Rodman also took the mic for a moment. Seemingly there to thank Chicago for all its support over the years, Rodman first offered up a convoluted thanks to the Windy City, noting, “There are two groups of people who have always supported me—North Korea and Chicago.” However, after the weird interjection of North Korea, Rodman began to thank Chicago in earnest, noting that “On the day I die, I’ll make sure I’ll be buried in Chicago.” (Take that, North Korea).
You can watch Dennis Rodman’s surprise appearance at Pearl Jam’s concert at Wrigley Field last night below.
[Video: Phillip Williams]
[H/T Consequence Of Sound]
The post Dennis Rodman Stops By Pearl Jam Show To Give Eddie Vedder A Ukelele, Thank Chicago & N. Korea For Support [Watch] appeared first on L4LM.
