Pearl Jam plays ‘Hunger Strike’ for first time in over a decade at final ‘Dark Matter’ tour stop

Pearl Jam wrapped their Australia and New Zealand tour in Sydney Saturday night and broke out the Temple of the Dog song “Hunger Strike” for the first time in over 10 years.

The last time the band played the song in full was in October 2014, at Neil Young’s Bridge School benefit, where they were joined by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, who appears on the original recording of the track. 

For the Sydney performance, fan-shot footage posted to YouTube shows frontman Eddie Vedder taking on both his and Cornell’s parts of the song, with the audience helping out with Cornell’s high harmonies.

“Hunger Strike” was the first single off the album Temple of the Dog, which was released in April 1991. It was a tribute to the late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, who died March 19, 1970, and it featured members of both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

The performance of “Hunger Strike” was the first time Pearl Jam has played the song in full since Cornell’s 2017 death. In addition to performing it with Cornell, in the past they’ve performed the song with guest singers, including Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker and Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell.

But that wasn’t the only rarity played at the Sydney show. Vedder opened his solo encore with Bruce Springsteen’s “No Surrender,” and the band performed the Vs. track “Dissident” for the first time on this tour — and the first time since September 2022.