Pearl Jam's front man was born on this day in 1964 in Evanston, Illinois. Edward Louis Severson III, would later swap his biological father's last name for his mother's maiden name, Vedder. She gave him a guitar on his 12th birthday. Other musicians of note born on 12/23 include Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna veteran Jorma Kaukonen (1940), Tim Hardin (1941), Derek Small of Spinal Tap (1943), Mott The Hoople's Ariel Bender and Iron Maiden's Dave Murray (1956).