Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer joins Pearl Jam's live lineup
20 September 2021, 16:47 | Updated: 24 September 2021, 15:30
Pearl Jam have confirmed former Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarist Josh Klinghoffer has joined their touring lineup after he joined them on stage last night.
Josh Klinghoffer has joined Pearl Jam as a member of their live touring set-up.
The former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist joined the grunge legends on stage last night (18 September) during their Sea.Hear.Now Festival headline slot at Asbury Park, New Jersey.
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Klinghoffer played with the band for the entirety of their 20-track setlist, switching between guitar and percussion while contributing backing vocals throughout.
A Pearl Jam representative later confirmed to Consequence of Sound that he was a new addition as a full-time touring member.
Paying tribute to the late Charlie Watts during their headline set, Pearl Jam played classics like Even Flow and Alive alongside newer tracks from their latest album Gigaton.
The Seattle icons also performed a handful of covers, namely My City Ruins by Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World which they ended their set with.
READ MORE: WATCH: RHCP Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer Is Also Epic On Bass
After a decade as a full-time member of Red Hot Chili Peppers, it was announced in 2019 that Josh Klinghoffer would be departing the band.
At the same time it was also revealed that John Frusciante would re-join the band for his third stint as their guitarist.
Frusciante replaced the band's original guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988 after he sadly died of a heroin overdose, then left in 1992.
He went on to later replace former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro as a member of the Chili's in 1998 after suffering with heroin addiction himself, which nearly cost him his life.
Klinghoffer revealed that finding out John Frusciante was joining the band once again after being let go was a "shock" but also "not a surprise".
Speaking to WTF podcast host Marc Maron at the time, he said: "They just said, 'We'll get right to it. We've decided to ask John to come back to the band.' And I just s
Josh Klinghoffer on his Breakup with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
There's no hard feelings between Klinghoffer and his former bandmates, however, as he expressed he's happy for Frusciante to be part of the band again.
"It's absolutely John's place to be in that band," he said. "So that's why I'm happy for him, I'm happy that he's back with them."
QUIZ: Which Red Hot Chili Peppers album are you?
"If John coming back had happened five years ago, it would have been hard for me, temporally, to weigh [my work] against what they had," he added.
"Now, after 10 years, two tours, and almost three albums of writing, I'm really proud of what I did with them. I feel like we did create something."
