Ament: Laboriel Jr. Was Pearl Jam's First-Choice Drummer — SkimNews
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- Pearl Jam played its first show since Matt Cameron's departure at the Ohana Festival on Sept. 25, with Abe Laboriel Jr. — Paul McCartney's longtime drummer — behind the kit, but the band has not confirmed whether he's the permanent replacement.
- Jeff Ament said Laboriel Jr. was the first name every member of the band raised when discussing Cameron's exit: "In our minds, let's start at the top," adding that the hardest part was telling other drummer friends they had already chosen someone.
- Ament confirmed Pearl Jam is eyeing a 2026 album and tour: "We're sort of due," he said, noting he and Stone Gossard talk weekly and that the band has begun writing together, though only a few early pieces have emerged.
- 'Since Forever' — Ament's new photo book created with his brother, designer Barry Ament — was released Sept. 25 and collects more than 250 black-and-white photos Ament has shot of Pearl Jam since the early Nineties, including the iconic sheep on the 1993 'Vs.' cover.
- Ament traced his photographer origin story to a label revelation that a hired photographer charged $8,000 an hour, prompting his DIY approach: "That's ridiculous, man … I can do this shit."
- Ament recounted shooting the 'Vs.' sheep purely by chance while it followed him along a Montana fence, calling it "so much more natural than the first album cover that was, you know, very literal" and dismissing the long-running claim that the animal was actually an Angora goat.
Why it matters: Pearl Jam enters its fourth decade without Matt Cameron for the first time since 1998, and the band's decision to tap Abe Laboriel Jr. — a veteran sideman with decades of Paul McCartney gigs rather than an unknown — signals continuity over reinvention heading into a potential 2026 record. Ament's 250-image 'Since Forever' also hands fans the band's definitive visual archive from a founding member who saw it all, with never-shared photos of Eddie Vedder recording 'Ten' included.
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