Eddie Vedder Covers “My City Of Ruins,” Faces Lawsuit

Videos by American Songwriter

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Last night, PBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors, featuring artists covering the work of Kennedy Honoree Bruce Springsteen. Melissa Etheridge rocked the crowd (including the Obamas) with “Born To Run,” while John Mellencamp covered the other end of the spectrum with “Born In The U.S.A.” Sting took it to church with a powerful version of “The Rising,” while Eddie Vedder kept things intimate with a stripped-down version of “My City Of Ruins.” Springsteen seemed to be moved by it, judging from his reactions in the video below.

Said comedian Jon Stewart: “I can tell you what I believe, and what I believe is this: I believe that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby. And they abandoned this child on the side of the road, between the exit interchanges of 8A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike. That child is Bruce Springsteen.”

In other Eddie Vedder news, the Pearl Jam frontman is reportedly being sued by Gordon Peterson, a Canadian songwriter who claims that Vedder made unapproved changes to the lyrics of Gordon’s “Hard Sun,” which Vedder recorded for the Into the Wild soundtrack.