Why Did Matt Cameron Quit Pearl Jam After 27 Years? Fans Get Teary-Eyed: Stop The World Right Now

Matt Cameron is out of Pearl Jam. The band and Cameron himself dropped the news on social media today, and, honestly, that’s about all anyone’s saying.

Cameron thanked Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Jeff Ament for taking him in back in ‘98, but he didn’t get into why he’s leaving. The rest of the band? Also tight-lipped. No juicy details, just some polite statements.

Matt Cameron quits Pearl Jam after 27 years

Pearl Jam’s drummer situation? Wild history. First, there was Dave Krusen, who left after ‘91. Then Matt Chamberlain, who barely had time to unpack his bags. Dave Abbruzzese jumped in, lasted a couple years, then Jack Irons took over until Cameron finally joined and stuck around. Dude was the steady hand they’d been looking for.

By the time Cameron showed up, Pearl Jam already had five albums under their belt: Ten, Vs., Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield. His first run with them was Binaural in 2000, and he’s been on every record since, including the latest one, Dark Matter, which landed in 2024.

Before all this, Cameron was tearing it up with Soundgarden, playing on those monster records like Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. Oh, and don’t forget Temple of the Dog—a one-off supergroup with Chris Cornell and a couple of the Pearl Jam guys.

Besides drumming for two of Seattle’s biggest exports, Cameron’s kept busy. He did Drumgasm with Zach Hill and Janet Weiss in 2013, dropped his own solo record, Cavedweller, in 2017 via Pearl Jam’s label, and more recently, rocked with Krist Novoselic and Kim Thayil in 3rd Secret.

He got the big nod into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Pearl Jam in 2017, and—get this—he’s set to be inducted again with Soundgarden later this year.

Fans get teary-eyed for Matt Cameron

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