Pearl Jam’s New Drummer: Our Guesses From the Likely to the Extreme

Throughout the past four decades, Josh Freese has been part of an astounding number of big-name bands, including Foo Fighters, Weezer, Devo, Sublime, Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses, and the Offspring, in addition to playing on more than 400 albums. There’s perhaps no drummer of the modern era with a more impressive resume, and he can adapt to any genre of music with ease.

Pros: He’s a pro’s pro who could effortlessly take the baton from Matt Cameron and run with it.

Cons: His Foo Fighters tenure lasted just two years, and ended for reasons nobody has quite articulated. Does Dave Grohl know something the rest of us don’t know?

Odds: On the higher end of the spectrum. There’s almost no way he wasn’t at least considered.

A vocal contingent of the Pearl Jam fanbase has convinced itself that Jane’s Addiction/Porno for Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins has been given the job, without presenting anything even close to proof. But the timing makes sense since Jane’s Addiction imploded in spectacularly messy fashion in 2025, and Perkins is in need of a gig. It would be a slight echo of 1998 when Pearl Jam hired Matt Cameron shortly after Soundgarden broke up. There’s also a history of bands stripping Jane’s for parts since the Red Hot Chili Peppers hired guitarist Dave Navarro after the first Jane’s split.

Pros: Pearl Jam has a long history with Jane’s Addiction going back to the early Nineties, and Perry Farrell has joined them for “Mountain Song” on multiple occasions. Perkins is a stellar drummer and is very familiar with the grind of long tours and playing this particular kind of music.

Cons: Perkins is a year short of his 60th birthday. Pearl Jam might want a younger drummer who wouldn’t have any issue with the three-hour shows they used to play on a regular basis. There’s also the chance that Jane’s Addiction reunites once again, as unlikely as that seems at the moment, and he’d feel compelled to bolt. (Jane’s has never played without him.)

Odds: Somewhat high. We’re skeptical, but maybe the Pearl Jam fans are tapped into something genuine with this rumor.

Another name that’s been lingering for weeks in the Pearl Jam fan world is longtime Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. It makes sense since Laboriel is a beast behind the kit, a friend of Eddie Vedder, and he guested on his 2022 solo LP, Earthling. At McCartney shows, Laboriel joyfully tackles Beatles, Wings, and McCartney solo tunes. It’s not hard to imagine him handling “Release,” “Even Flow,” and “Porch” as well.

Pros: Laboriel is no stranger to large stages or high-pressure environments. This is a guy who played at the Super Bowl halftime shows, and even in front of Queen Elizabeth. He also helps out on background vocals. There’s no doubt that he’d be up for the job.

Cons: Paul McCartney has been working with the exact same four-piece band since returning to the road in 2002. It’s an incredible gig, and one would have to be insane to leave voluntarily. There’s most likely more years of Pearl Jam tours in the future than Paul McCartney tours for simple actuarial reasons. But signing on with Pearl Jam would still mean quitting on McCartney. He’s really going to do that?

Odds: We’ll put this one next to Perkins in terms of likelihood.

Kahokiss is not nearly as famous as many of the drummers on this list. For those unfamiliar, she was a member of the acclaimed Japanese punk-rock group Otoboke Beaver from 2018 until earlier this year, when she left to have a child and focus on her family. But Pearl Jam fans immediately suspected she was also leaving to join Pearl Jam. The evidence is thin, but believers point out she left Otoboke Beaver right after Matt Cameron left, and that Vedder was in Japan for solo concerts the exact moment it went down.

Pros: Kahokiss is an incredible musician, and her relative youth would be a great asset. It would also shatter the glass ceiling in Pearl Jam by giving them their first female member.

Cons: Pearl Jam and Otoboke Beaver are pretty different bands. She’s also never had to play venues like Fenway Park and Lollapalooza — yet.

Odds: This one feels pretty unlikely, but who knows? Maybe the Pearl Jam obsessives cracked this on day one, and everything since then has been a wild goose chase.

When Matt Cameron came down with Covid in 2022, Pearl Jam phoned up veteran Seattle musician Richard Stuverud to help them through the next gig. He’s also a member of Jeff Ament’s side projects Three Fish and Tres Mts. And way back in 1993, Stuverud played on a version of “Nothingman” during the Vitalogy sessions that the band eventually released on a 2011 deluxe edition of the album.

Pros: Stuverud isn’t famous, but he’s been part of the Seattle grunge scene since the very beginning. After years of waiting in the wings, he’s earned a promotion to the big time.

Cons: It’s very possible Pearl Jam want an outsider who can come in with a fresh approach. And as we said before, they also might want someone young who can give them a new, revitalized engine. On both counts, Stuverud falls short.

Odds: We wouldn’t be shocked if Stuverud was the pick, but we wouldn’t bet on it either.

For about four weeks in the summer of 1991, months before they became superstars, Matt Chamberlain was Pearl Jam’s official drummer. He stuck around long enough to play a few gigs and appear in the “Alive” video, but he bolted when an offer came in to join the Saturday Night Live house band. “Had I known it was going to generate million and millions of dollars, maybe I’d have given it a second thought,” he said many years later. “But I think I made the right decision. It just wasn’t my thing. They were on a mission, but I was just there to help out for a second. I was just an innocent bystander.”

Pros: There aren’t a lot of second chances in life. But it would be a fantastic story if Chamberlain was given another shot at Pearl Jam, 35 years after the initial one. This time around, it wouldn’t be tiny nightclubs and traveling in a dingy van. It would be five-star hotels and private planes. He’s also remained close to the guys and played in Stone Gossard’s recent side project Painted Shield.

Cons: There wouldn’t be a lot of downsides to Chamberlain unless they want someone younger than 59. He’s also only one of five men on the planet to have been a Pearl Jam drummer.

Odds: It feels unlikely, but we’re rooting for this one since it would be such a wonderful full-circle story.

Josh Freese has a very impressive resume, as we noted, but Joey Waronker has been nipping at his heels in recent years by playing with Oasis, AtomsfFor Peace, R.E.M., Roger Waters, Beck, and many others. His gig with Oasis seems to rule him out, but fans noticed that his name wasn’t listed in the credits for the recent tour doc Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger. Was this a simple oversight, or evidence that he’s been sacked by the Gallagher brothers? If that’s the case, Waronker is on the market for a job.

Pros: Waronker is an amazingly versatile drummer. And if he can handle having Roger Waters as a boss, Pearl Jam will be a breeze.

Cons: Pearl Jam might want a band member 100 percent committed to the band, and not someone accustomed to jumping from project to project. He’s also used to nonstop work, and Pearl Jam has very long periods of inactivity. It might not be a great fit in that regard.

Odds: Much like Freese, it’s safe to presume his name at least came to mind. But we’d be surprised if they went with him.

This one might feel a bit nuts since Klinghoffer is a guitarist. He was even inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the guitarist in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, even though he was fired a few years later. He was just 32 at the time, and they’ve basically erased the two albums he made with them from their repertoire. But right after he left the Chilis to make room for the return of John Frusciante, Eddie Vedder brought him into Pearl Jam as a utility player, handling keyboard, guitar, percussion, and background vocals. And when Cameron got Covid and they flew in Stuverud, Klinghoffer also played drums on a few songs. Simply put, the guy can handle any instrument.

Pros: Klinghoffer must have made some sort of deal with the devil to join all the great alt-rock bands of the Nineties since he’s currently in Pearl Jam as a touring member, spent years in the Chilis, and even filled in for Dave Navarro in Jane’s Addiction a few years back. He’s also very tight with Eddie Vedder and plays guitar in his solo group the Earthlings. If Klinghoffer were able to somehow step behind the kit and make it work, Vedder would likely be thrilled.

Cons: He’s a guitarist.

Odds: Pretty low. We expect him to remain in his current role in the band.

Since getting his start in the E Street Band as a teenager back in 2009 due to a certain family connection, Jay Weinberg has played in Madball, Against Me!, Infectious Grooves, Suicidal Tendencies, and Slipknot. His stint in that last band lasted nearly a decade, but they fired him in 2023. He’s been on the hunt for a new gig as he focuses on solo work. If Pearl Jam came calling, he’d certainly take the call.

Pros: Weinberg has played on very big stages with both the E Street Band and Slipknot. He also faced enormous pressure when he had to take over for his father in front of about 70,000 people a night. Pearl Jam wouldn’t seem very daunting by comparison. He’s also a mere 36 and could easily handle marathon gigs or anything else they throw at him.

Cons: Besides the annoying “nepo baby” accusations he’d likely face, there aren’t many. Jay would likely crush it in Pearl Jam if given the chance.

Odds: His name hasn’t really circulated, and there’s so much competition that it’s probably fairly low.

Josh Klinghoffer and Richard Stuverud weren’t the only drummers to play with Pearl Jam when Cameron got Covid in 2022. They also called up their founding member Dave Krusen. His original stint only lasted a few months since he was dealing with alcohol addiction issues at the time, but he stuck around long enough to play on Ten and earn himself a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They reunited with him for a performance of “Alive” that night, and then played many of the other Ten songs with him in 2022.

Pros: Fans would be overjoyed if the OG lineup of Pearl Jam came back together after a 35-year hiatus. It would be similar to Ron Blair’s return to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2002, and give Krusen a pretty incredible gift. Fans pummeled his social media after Matt Cameron left, and he eventually responded by saying, “No they have a new drummer already.” When that made news, he took the comment down. Was this just a red herring?

Cons: Most likely, Krusen was speaking the truth. It was an incredible jolt of nostalgia to bring him back for the Hall of Fame and that 2022 show. But he’s been gone a long time, and has never played any of the post-Ten songs. He’d have to do quite a bit of homework.

Odds: Sadly, they are pretty low.

Last year, the rock world experienced something very strange, which the press dubbed Drummergeddon. Simply put, a shockingly large number of groups — including Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Primus, Iron Maiden, the Who, and Oasis — all parted ways with their drummers at roughly the same time. The peak moment of weirdness came when the Foos fired Josh Freese and hired Ilan Rubin away from Nine Inch Nails, and Trent Reznor responded by bringing Freese back into NIN. It felt like two baseball teams trading players. Rubin has a pretty cushy job in the Foos right now, but Freese surely thought that too. Might he accept yet another new job if Vedder came calling?

Pros: Rubin is so talented that he broke Josh Klinghoffer’s record by becoming the youngest person ever inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (To be totally fair, neither of them exactly deserve it. Their bandleaders at the time just insisted that it happen.) He’s done incredible work with the Foo Fighters, and would likely be amazing in Pearl Jam.

Cons: He has one of the biggest jobs in rock. It probably wouldn’t even occur to Pearl Jam to try and steal him away.

Odds: Very low.

The very reason that Pearl Jam exists is because original Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer Jack Irons told the guys in the band about his friend Eddie in San Diego. Six years later, Vedder repaid that massive debt by hiring him as Pearl Jam’s drummer after they parted ways with Dave Abbruzzese. He did stellar work on No Code and Yield, but left the band because of some mental health issues he experienced on their Australian tour in 1998. He remains a close friend of the band, and was present when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Pros: He’s familiar with a large percentage of their live repertoire, and has a relationship with Vedder that goes back to the 1980s. Many longtime fans would be thrilled to get him back. And if it means more songs from No Code and Yield in the setlist, that’s a huge plus.

Cons: Irons has lived a pretty low-key lifestyle over the past couple of decades. A return to a super high-stress environment might not be great for him. He’s also 64 and may not have the stamina for extended Pearl Jam shows.

Odds: Fairly low.

Bruce Springsteen has indicated that his days of marathon tours are over, and he’s going to instead plan much shorter runs. That leaves a lot of downtime for members of the E Street Band. Max Weinberg could fill it by joining Pearl Jam. Yes, he’s 75. But have you seen him play “Badlands” recently? A Pearl Jam show would be a day at the beach for him.

Pros: He’s one of the greatest drummers of his generation, and he remains in incredible shape for his age, or really any age.

Cons: He’ll be 80 in five years. He’s pretty busy with Bruce. This is absurd.

Odds: Virtually zero.

The problem with any human drummer is the weakness of their flesh, blood, muscles, and bones. What if there was a drummer out there who didn’t deal with such pesky, inconvenient things? What if there was a drummer who never aged, never showed any signs of exhaustion, and has served as the spirit animal of rock & roll for decades? We’re talking, of course, about Animal from the Muppets. He jammed with Travis Barker many years back, and managed to hold his own. What’s stopping him from joining Pearl Jam?

Pros: He’d look badass behind the kit. The other members of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem may not love this, but he’s been loyal to them since their formation in 1975. It’s time for Animal to spread his wings and fly with different bands.

Cons: He’s made of felt, requires at least one human to control him, and is not “real” in any meaningful way, at least for Pearl Jam’s purposes. All of this would pose some challenges.

Odds: Not as high as we’d like.

Earlier this year, German drummer Anika Nilles stunned the rock world when she took over for Neil Peart in Rush — maybe the most difficult job any replacement drummer has ever attempted — and won over the entire fan community on night one. Rush have a busy slate of tour dates these next few months, but they have a night off on Sept. 27. Could Anika fly over to Dana Point and sit in with Pearl Jam? It seems pretty unlikely, but so did a German woman few Americans had ever heard of joining Rush, and that actually happened.

Pros: She’s amazing and would nail it.

Cons: She’s a little preoccupied with another job. Maybe she has a clone or secret twin sister?

Odds: Hovering around zero. She’s busy.

Back in 1992, Pearl Jam and Nirvana were vying for the position of America’s favorite grunge band. “We’ve never had a fight ever,” Kurt Cobain once said. “I’ve just always hated his band.” He extended the hate to Alice in Chains as well. “Those bands have been in the hairspray/cockrock scene for years and all of a sudden they stop washing their hair and start wearing flannel shirts,” Cobain told Flipside in 1992. “It doesn’t make any sense to me. There are bands moving from L.A. and all over to Seattle and then claim they’ve lived there all their life so they can get record deals. It really offends me.” Time has healed many of these wounds, but the final traces would be eradicated if Nirvana’s drummer actually joined Pearl Jam. (He did play “Rockin’ in the Free World” with them back in 1995.)

Pros: Dave Grohl remains a great drummer. He could do the job.

Cons: He’s in this other band, and it takes up a great deal of his time.

Odds: Around the same as Animal coming to life and joining Pearl Jam.

Meg White has been completely absent from the pop culture radar ever since the White Stripes last played together in 2009, not even showing up at her own induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Many journalists have attempted to track her down, and they walked away without even a photo. She makes Syd Barrett circa 2004 seem like Sid Vicious circa 1977 in terms of media exposure. But imagine the joy if she walked onstage with Pearl Jam at Ohana?

Pros: It would be one of the most shocking moments in rock history, and hopefully set the stage for a White Stripes reunion.

Cons: One sort of gets the sense she’s not super anxious to be back in the public eye.

Odds: .0000001%.

To a very vocal contingent of OG Pearl Jam fans, Dave Abbruzzese is the greatest drummer to ever serve time in the band. He was there at the absolute peak of their fame between 1991 and 1994, and he played on Vs. and Vitalogy. If Abbruzzese had his way, he’d still be in the band. But there was a severe personality clash between him and the others, particularly Eddie Vedder, and they let him go in 1994. He didn’t leave quietly and has spoken his mind to the press a number of times over the years, further poisoning the relationship between him and the others. When they got into the Hall of Fame in 2016, he wasn’t one of the inducted members. He kvetched about this online for several weeks. “They can’t justify ignoring my contributions,” Abbruzzese wrote. “Like me or not. If there is still a part of that band that remembers how hard we worked, how much blood and how much sweat … They will do the right thing.” Might they make up for the Hall of Fame slight by letting bygones be bygones and inviting him back into the band?

Pros: The fans would be ecstatic, and he knows how to play all of the early songs quite well.

Cons: It might be just a tad bit awkward since they haven’t really seen him or talked to him in over 30 years.

Odds: There’s a better chance of Meg White and Animal joining forces and becoming a two-person drum team like Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Speaking of those two guys, they have lots of time on their hands now that Dead and Company is on an indefinite hiatus. Is there any chance…