Billboard Bits: Pearl Jam
The first taste of music from the new Pearl Jam album, the single "World Wide Suicide," was digitally delivered by J Records this morning (Feb. 24) to U.S. rock radio outlets in the form of a 15-second chorus snippet. The full track, which resembles the groove-driven 1998 single "Do the Evolution," isn't due to impact stations for another two weeks.
At deadline, no other details have been confirmed about the as-yet-untitled album, which will be Pearl Jam's studio debut for J. It's the follow-up to 2002's Epic swan song "Riot Act," which has sold 497,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Before the band gets busy with promotion and touring, guitarist Mike McCready will stage a March 18 benefit for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation at Seattle's Showbox. McCready will play with his UFO tribute band, Flight To Mars, on a bill that also features the Supersuckers and Lee Rude and the Trainwrecks.