Like father, like daughter. Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder made the band’s headlining set at Sunday’s Ohana Festival a family affair when he brought his 16-year-old daughter Harper to sing a very special mash-up. “We’ve had so much diversity on both these stages in the last few days,” Vedder said of the band’s annual three-day event in Dana Point, CA that featured sets from Devo, Maren Morris, Dogstar, Sting, Black Pumas, Alanis Morissette and the Breeders, among many others.
“But I realized it’s been a while since we had a powerful young woman up on stage with us so my pal Harper here is gonna help me out,” proud papa Vedder said with a smile as he looked to his left and got a big grin back from his youngest, who looked appropriately nervous, but resolute. Vedder then began strumming his acoustic guitar and launched into PJ’s signature cover of Wayne Cochran’s 1961 car crash tragic love classic “Last Kiss.”
After dear old dad’s first verse, Harper launched into the first verse of the Swift Fearless track, tentatively singing, “I’m five years old, it’s getting cold, I’ve got my big coat on/ I hear you laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run/ Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides,” her voice gaining confidence as she made her way through, bursting into a huge smile as the audience gave her plenty of love in return.
Father and daughter continued to trade off vocals, with Harper saying the quiet part out loud when she hit the bridge before the third verse, singing, “I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger/ God smiles on my little brother, inside and out/ He’s better than I am/ I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run/ And I had the best days with you.” Before singing the final line, Harper looked over at her dad and the two shared a loving glance, with Vedder’s pride spreading across his face at the special moment.
As he strummed the final notes, the singer leaned over to give his daughter a shoulder bump, with the teen standing up to plant a kiss on her dad’s head before leaving the stage. Pearl Jam released “Last Kiss” as their 1998 Christmas fan club single; it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the band’s highest-charting single to date.
Back in May Vedder proved his Swiftie bona fides, when the singer talked about attending Swift’s Eras Tour with his wife and two daughters. “She’s an artist who’s respectful of her audience and I know from my daughter that she’s really kind of incredible at planting these little… hidden codes that they can pick up,” he said, while also praising Swift for being “incredibly prolific.”
Click here to watch a video of the performance.
