Pearl Jam Raise $76,000 to Buy Home For Late Mother Love Bone Frontman’s Mom
Pearl Jam and the band's loyal fans have come together for a great cause. After discovering that the mother of late Mother Love Bone / Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood was living in a broken down mobile home, guitarist Stone Gossard led the charge to buy Toni Wood a new place.
Mother Love Bone was only active in the Seattle music scene for two years, but made a huge impact with their sole full-length album, Apple. The record was released shortly after Andrew Wood overdosed on heroin, subsequently suffering an aneurysm which caused the end of his life. Guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament would later help form Temple of the Dog and the duo's most renowned project, Pearl Jam.
Andrew Wood was an essential part of Gossard and Ament's musical development, and through pure kindness, a woman who lost her son has been given a new place to rest her head.
The Kitsap Sun wrote an article on Toni Wood's new home and how Pearl Jam reached out to fans to ultimately raise $76,000. “He [Gossard] said, ‘Why don’t we see about getting you a new house,’” Wood recalls. “Him saying that — it was magic to me. It took my breath away … The part of the house I like best is the love that got it for me."
Fans donated more than $36,000, while members of Pearl Jam along with Mother Love Bone's former manager threw in an extra $40,000.
“I always go and whisper to my teller, ‘How much do I have left?’ because my account’s always verging on setting off all kinds of bells and whistles,” Wood says. “And she came back and said, ‘I don’t think you have to worry.’”
Now that her home is covered, Wood plans to use some of the extra cash to create a garden. Well done, boys. You've made us even prouder to call ourselves fans.
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