Former Red Hot Chili Peppers member Josh Klinghoffer joins Pearl Jam as a touring guitarist
Pearl Jam have announced that Josh Klinghoffer will be joining the veteran rock band as a touring guitarist. Klinghoffer, a former member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, joined Pearl Jam onstage at their concert at Ashbury Park, New Jersey for the Sea Hear Now Festival on Saturday.
The guitarist accompanied the band on guitar, percussion, and backing vocals for the duration of their gargantuan headline performance. A spokesperson for Pearl Jam has since confirmed that Josh Klinghoffer will be joining Pearl Jam as a permanent touring member.
During their set, Pearl Jam premiered several tracks from their new album Gigaton, performing them live for the very first time. The group also paid tribute to The Rolling Stones Drummer, Charlie Watts, who died last month. Pearl Jam combined a cover of The Rolling Stones track ‘Waiting On A Friend’ with their own song ‘Wishlist’.
Pearl Jam went on to cover Bruce Springsteen’s ‘My City Ruins’ and even bought out Lenny Kaye for their closing performance of ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’. The set was captured by fans and can be watched below. Klinghoffer left the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2019 after former guitarist John Frusciante was bought back into the fold. Klinghoffer, however, holds no resentment and regards the decision as “pretty simple”.
Elsewhere, Pearl Jam recently released new digital mixes of their debut album Ten, as well as their 1996 LP No Code. The records were released to celebrate their 30th and 25th anniversaries. The mixes were created by producer Josh Evans in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio for a “state-of-the-art immersive listening experience”. Both albums are available on Pearl Jam’s Youtube channel.
Klinghoffer will join Pearl Jam once again for a pair of performances at Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Music Festival in Dana Point, CA. You can check out their set at Sea Hear Now below.