Abe Laboriel Jr. and Pearl Jam | What was said

Is Abe Laboriel Jr. Pearl Jam’s new drummer? It depends which headline you read.

Some outlets have him officially welcomed. Others say the band “appear to” have revealed him. And Eddie Vedder, the one person whose opinion actually counts, has called it “sitting in”.

So rather than add another guess, let’s go through what has actually been said, and by whom.

What happened at Ohana

On Friday 25 September, the “Eddie Vedder and Friends” slot at Ohana Festival in Dana Point turned into a surprise Pearl Jam set, with Laboriel on drums. It was the band’s first show since Matt Cameron left.

On Sunday 27 September he played the full headline set too.

That was the date Stone Gossard had promised a reveal, as we covered in Pearl Jam’s mystery drummer. It arrived two days early and came with a question mark attached.

What the band have actually said

Three things, all from Vedder.

On stage on Sunday, he said Paul McCartney had let the band “borrow him to help us”. He told the crowd “you cannot be a great band without a great drummer”, then dedicated the chorus of “Better Man” to “Mr. Abe — the chorus that says, ‘Can’t find a better man.’” Laboriel was visibly moved.

On Instagram on Monday, Vedder extended “our further appreciation to Abe Laboriel Jr. sitting in on drums for PJ”. He called it “a joy to play with him”, said “he’s obviously extraordinary at his craft”, and signed off: “Thank you so much for this weekend Abe. And thank YOU Paul. We owe you big time.”

Read those together. “Borrow”. “Help us”. “Sitting in”. “This weekend”. Every word the band have chosen points to a loan, not a signing.

What nobody has said is the opposite. There is no statement ruling Laboriel out for the future, and no word on who drums for Pearl Jam next.

How it was reported

This is where it gets interesting.

A Yahoo Entertainment headline had Pearl Jam “Officially Welcome Abe Laboriel Jr. as New Drummer”. Rolling Stone’s Friday report is headlined more cautiously, “Pearl Jam Surprise Perform With Drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.”, but its web address still reads “reveal-abe-laboriel-jr-new-drummer”.

Stereogum hedged from the start: “Pearl Jam Appear To Reveal New Drummer”. Loudwire went with “Seemingly”. Stereogum’s own follow-up on Vedder’s post was still headlined “Pearl Jam Share Statement About New Drummer”, about a statement that calls him a sit-in.

As of today, we can’t find a single on-record quote from the band, Laboriel or his representatives confirming a permanent hire. The “officially” came from a headline, not from Pearl Jam.

In fairness, our own Friday report was titled “Pearl Jam’s new drummer”. We did flag the caveat in the first paragraph. The title still ran ahead of the facts.

Why Laboriel’s name carries weight

Because he is exactly who you would call for someone brilliant at short notice.

Laboriel has been Paul McCartney’s drummer since 2001, on tour and in the studio. Before and around that he has worked with Steve Vai, Seal, Sting, Eric Clapton and k.d. lang, and he played on Vedder’s 2022 solo album Earthling.

That résumé cuts both ways. It explains why the band trusted him with a headline set. It also explains why “borrow” is the right word: McCartney is still touring, and nobody walks away from that chair lightly.

And Matt Cameron?

Cameron announced his exit on 7 July 2025, after 27 years. “I have taken my final steps down the drum riser for the mighty Pearl Jam,” he wrote. The band called him “a singular and true powerhouse of a musician and drummer”.

Neither side gave a reason. A few days later Cameron added, “for the record, I’m still an active musician.”

Final thoughts

The honest answer is that we don’t know yet, and neither does anyone writing “officially”.

What we do know is that Pearl Jam’s own words, so far, describe a favour between friends. That could change with one Instagram post. Until it does, “sitting in” is the only on-record description there is.

For what Laboriel was stepping into, read our full Matt Cameron feature, or see our Drummergeddon round-up for the rest of rock’s 2026 drum-stool reshuffle.