Jeff Ament keeps to himself when he’s on stage. It’s very unlikely to see him showboating in any way during a Pearl Jam show. In fact, that’s the performance style he enjoys watching, too.

Ament said on the “Talkhouse Podcast,” “Some of my favorite musicians have their head down and their eyes closed. And it’s like, I get the most out of some of those people than I do somebody who’s David Lee Roth-ing it or really connecting aggressively.”

(Side note: No one tell DLR he’s been used as a verb! You just know he’d love that a little too much.)

Ament noted he loves watching people close their eyes while performing, because he can they’re really “inside the songs.” In pseudo-Liz Lemon fashion, he says he wants to “go there” with the musician, too.

It’s funny that Ament feels this way about musicians. A handful of them featured on the t-shirt he infamously wore during his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction could be accused of often David Lee Roth-ing it on stage. If you want proof, keep scrolling for a deep dive into those artists he subtly shouted out during his Rock Hall induction.

 

Jeff Ament’s Rock Hall T-Shirt: An Analysis

In April of 2017, Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and all of them looked pretty sharp at the ceremony. Jeff Ament, though, got the most attention for his outfit: his t-shirt included a long list of artists who he felt should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This list ranged from rock to metal to punk to jazz to Afrobeat to new wave to avant-garde and even some visual artists.

Here, we go through the list name by name, minus the artists who have since been inducted (or who will be this year): Nina Simone, T. Rex, Bon Jovi, Todd Rundgren, the Cars, Duran Duran, Nine Inch Nails, Roxy Music, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk and the Cure. We’re also not including Tom Waits, who was inducted in 2011.

We size up each of the artists who have yet to be inducted and discuss how likely they are actually to be nominated and ultimately become Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.