Bradley Cooper may not have received an Academy Award nomination for directing A Star Is Born, but he got something far better. Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, who inspired the voice and styling of Cooper’s character in the film, performed Cooper’s song “Maybe It’s Time” on tour Sunday night.
The song, written by country-folk legend Jason Isbell, is a meditative evaluation of the past. In the movie, Cooper’s gravelly speaking voice and salt-and-pepper beard are a dead ringer for Vedder, but their music is pretty different. But with this cover, Vedder proved he sounds just as incredible behind a simple acoustic guitar as he does on filling arenas.
Isbell, a lifelong Pearl Jam fan, took to Twitter to celebrate one of his idols singing a song he wrote. I’m not sure there’s anybody else who can say one of the formative musicians of their childhood covered a song they wrote for Bradley Cooper.
Holy shit Eddie Vedder sang my Bradley Cooper song in his set tonight. That is by far the strangest sentence I’ve ever composed but it’s certainly a huge honor. I was 12 when “Ten” came out and by god I learned how to play every song on it.
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) March 4, 2019
Apart from the A Star Is Born track, Vedder packed his 24-song set in Tempe, Arizona with Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Tom Petty, and U2 covers. It stings to not be recognized for your work — but pick your head up, Cooper, your cowboy hat is falling. And Eddie Vedder included you in a set full of rock god covers.
Watch fan-shot footage of Eddie Vedder’s cover of “Maybe It’s Time” above.
