Pearl Jam unveils Abe Laboriel Jr. as new drummer at Ohana Festival
Pearl Jam have a new drummer. Abe Laboriel Jr. was unveiled on Friday night during a set billed as “Eddie Vedder and Friends” at the Ohana Festival in Southern California. The reveal, Rolling Stone reported, ends more than a year of questions since the drum seat came open. For anyone new to the story, the drummer sets the pulse the rest of a band plays to, so a change in that seat is heard across the whole sound.
The band introduced him the direct way. They played. The first song with Laboriel was “Corduroy.” Pearl Jam then kept him behind the kit for “Hail Hail,” “Scared of Fear” and “Wishlist,” giving festival-goers four songs to hear the new line-up at work.
The vacancy dates to July 2025, when Matt Cameron departed. Since then, fans have waited for confirmation of a successor. Advance coverage had pointed to the Ohana weekend as the moment for the announcement, with 27 September circled as the date, according to a Rolling Stone preview published on 24 September.
Laboriel is known to many listeners as a longtime collaborator of Paul McCartney, built over many years of recording and live work. He also has a direct connection to Vedder, having guest-featured on the singer’s 2022 solo album Earthling. A guest feature, in plain terms, means appearing as an additional musician on someone else’s record. That earlier session meant Friday was a reunion of sorts, rather than a first meeting.
There was a public clue in the run-up. Laboriel was absent from McCartney’s performance for the Saturday Night Live Season 51 finale. Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith filled in for that appearance. The switch was noted at the time, without an explanation attached to it.
The setting mattered. The news did not arrive through a statement. It arrived live, inside a festival set carrying Vedder’s name, so the audience on site saw and heard the change before it travelled further. Festival bills often use “and Friends” to signal a flexible line-up, and on this night the title proved accurate.
What makes this stand out is the ready-made link. Vedder has already made music with Laboriel outside Pearl Jam. For fans, this means the interest now moves from the name itself to how the partnership sounds across a longer show. A four-song introduction is a start, not the whole story.
