Life imitated art imitating life Sunday as Eddie Vedder covered the A Star Is Born song “Maybe It’s Time” during his set at Tempe, Arizona’s Innings Festival. Bradley Cooper’s Jackson Maine, a character that was partly inspired by the Pearl Jam singer, performs the Jason Isbell-penned track in the film.
“This is about another guy from here,” Vedder prefaced before his acoustic rendition; the Jackson Maine character is from Arizona in the film.
In an interview leading up to the release of the Oscar-nominated film, Cooper revealed he leaned on Vedder for insight into the rock star persona when scripting the Maine character, asking “9,000 questions” of the Pearl Jam singer.
“[Vedder] gave me minor, little things that only musicians know about what to do, just aesthetically and the inner workings,” Cooper said; the actor-director also said Vedder discouraged Cooper from remaking A Star Is Born. “Bro, don’t do that,” Vedder told him.
Upon hearing that Vedder covered “Maybe It’s Time,” Isbell tweeted, “Holy shit Eddie Vedder sang my Bradley Cooper song in his set tonight. That is by far the strangest sentence I’ve ever composed, but it’s certainly a huge honor. I was 12 when ‘Ten’ came out and by god I learned how to play every song on it.”