“The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself. Be stronger than those people. And then you can come back”: How Pearl Jam created a powerful signature song inspired by a real-life tragedy

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

Jeremy is one of Pearl Jam’s signature tracks as well as one of their most controversial thanks to its provocative combination of soaring vocals, heavy guitars and dark lyrics.

The song was released as the third single from the Seattle band’s 1991 debut Ten debut, and its main source of inspiration came from a newspaper article about a 15 year-old Texan boy named Jeremy Wade Delle, who shot himself in front of his teacher and classmates on 8 January 1991.