Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready Says Dave Abbruzzese Should Be in the Hall of Fame
Two months after Pearl Jam's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the controversy over whether or not former drummer Dave Abbruzzese should have joined them is still brewing. But this time it's coming from guitarist Mike McCready, who agrees that his old bandmate deserves to be recognized.
"Dave and I were tightest in that band," he said on Sirius XM's Feedback (as found by Rolling Stone), "and I feel like he should have been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because ... Dave was integral at the part when we were starting to take off, and we were playing at Lollapalooza and we were opening for the [Red Hot] Chili Peppers and Soundgarden and all that stuff. And we had to have a drummer because things were blowing up really quickly and he was there right when that was happening."
Abbruzese replaced Dave Krusen in 1991 as the group was preparing to release their debut, Ten, and stayed with them through 1994, playing on Vs. and Vitalogy. While he occupied the drum stool, Pearl Jam rose from being an unknown band to one of the leading stars of the alternative revolution. McCready believes that, in addition to his drumming, warrants his place in the Hall.
"He rode that wave and helped us through that," McCready added, "and so I felt like he should've been a part of that and he should be acknowledged because he was an amazing drummer. ... I miss Dave."
Only Krusen and current drummer Matt Cameron were inducted as members of Pearl Jam. Upon hearing the news of his exclusion, Abbruzese chastised the band for not following their usual moral compass and sticking up for him. The band eventually invited him, as well as other former drummers Matt Chamberlain and Jack Irons, to the ceremony, but he declined, saying that he didn't consider their open letter to be an official invitation.
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