Eddie Vedder Details Illness That Forced Pearl Jam Cancellations

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder told fans the illness that forced the band to cancel a run of European dates was like a “near-death experience.”

The legendary band pulled out of shows at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium June 29 and then a pair of performances in Berlin, saying that unspecified members of the band had some unspecified illness.

During the band’s return to the stage in Barcelona, Vedder described the ailment.

“Can I just say that last week almost felt like a near-death experience?,” he said. “It was very uncomfortable, and it got frightening. It felt like chest bronchitis. It felt like maybe you couldn’t breathe, and maybe you wouldn’t make it through the night, and maybe you’d have to go to the hospital.”

Vedder said during the show at the Palau Sant Jordi that the illness affected “a few of us,” without enumerating who “a few of us” includes.

Pearl Jam is slated to play Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival this week and has a show slated for Portugal July 13. The band returns stateside for the next leg of their U.S. tour August 22 in Missoula, MT.