Eddie Vedder was 'terrified' while horseback riding with Bruce Springsteen: 'Where am I gonna jump?'

Raechal ShewfeltWed, March 4, 2026 at 3:57 AM UTC

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Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder perform together at a 2004 benefitCredit: Debra L Rothenberg/FilmMagic

Believe it or not, it is possible to scare Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam lead singer who has performed for countless millions across the world.

In fact, the rocker had a visit with fellow rocker Bruce Springsteen that did just that, he revealed Tuesday on The Howard Stern Show.

"I've known Bruce pretty good for quite some time," Vedder told Stern. "All I could say is everything you imagined him to be, you're not even halfway there — just as a person, as an artist, as a friend."

But — and a very big but — Vedder's review of his experience with "The Boss" was less than gushing.

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It had started with horses, which Vedder is "terrified" of anyway, when the singer went riding with Springsteen and their wives, Jill Vedder and Patti Scialfa.

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"And that ride with Bruce did not help anything at all," the "Alive" singer said. "He says, 'You know, here's what's going to happen. You're going to get on the horse. The horse is going to walk. You're going to get off the horse. That's what's going to happen.' And I was trying to act not terrified. I was like, 'I got this.'"

Vedder said he was employing a strategy of, "Don't let the shark know you're scared," which did not work this time.

"For whatever reason, my horse just took off, and I'm kind of headed off the trail into this forest of trees," he recalled. "I don't know what is happening, and I'm just trying to like surf. What I remember is like surfing the horse and looking, 'Where am I going to jump? Where I going to jump?' You know, everybody's helping, yelling stuff like, 'Pull right, pull left,' and I can't see a clear space to jump."

Eventually, mercifully, Vedder was left unharmed.

"It stopped, and then everyone was a little mystified," he said. "Patti was like, 'That's very odd. That's very odd. He might be barn sour.' And then, damn it, if the horse didn't do it again. So, in the end, Bruce said that was pretty good horsemanship that I didn't crack my head."

Stern took the opportunity to remind Vedder that he could come to visit him, where he was guaranteed to not encounter a horse.

on Entertainment Weekly

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