In 2000, nine people died at the Roskilde Festival. The band expresses condolences to the families of the victims.
On June 30, 2000 there was a major accident at the Danish Roskilde Festival. Nine people were killed during a performance by the US band Pearl Jam. The band members expressed their condolences to the families of the victims as part of the 20th anniversary of the accident.
"It has been 20 years since that day. (…) But nothing has been the way it has been since," says an article published on the band's official website on behalf of the band, written by founding member Stone Gossard (53) . "Our pain is a thousandth of the pain of families … of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, of best friends," continues, among other things. The band expresses its deepest condolences to the families "who lost their boys that day".
Band "hid"
Nine men had lost their footing at the Roskilde Festival in the summer of 2000 and had been crushed by the crowds. The organizers, the media and the band would have failed after the accident, the article continues. Pearl Jam had withdrawn at the time because reports had indicated that the band was partly to blame. At the time, the group was "hiding and hoping that it was not our fault".
Since then they have always tried not to hide anymore. The band members have met with some of the families over the years and made friends with some.