Eddie Vedder is helping celebrate the Chicago Bulls as part of the basketball team’s inaugural Ring of Honor festivities.
The Pearl Jam frontman, who’s well known as a Chicago sports fan, has written an essay in honor of Dennis Rodman, who won three NBA championships with the Bulls in the ’90s alongside legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
“He is surprisingly well-known considering that not too many people truly get to know him,” Vedder writes of Rodman.
On the court, Rodman was known as a rebounding and defensive specialist. Off the court, he was infamous for his flamboyant appearance as well as legal issues and high-profile relationships with Madonna and Carmen Electra. He also developed a friendship with Vedder and has showed up at a number of Pearl Jam shows.
“His legend and his legacy all come from his work on the court,” Vedder writes. “And, at a certain point in his elevated life and colorful career, his infinite energy evolved into an existence that not even the magnificence of the hardwoods could contain. But never should the extracurriculars pull focus from the history that was made — the history he helped create.”
The Bulls will celebrate Rodman and the other Ring of Honor inductees, including Jordan and Pippen, during halftime of an upcoming game against the Golden State Warriors, taking place Friday, January 12.
In other Vedder news, the “Even Flow” rocker’s EB Research Partnership charity organization has announced a benefit concert taking place February 17 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The event will feature Vedder, Post Malone and Jelly Roll, among others.
The EB Research Partnership endeavors to find a cure for epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disorder that causes painful skin blisters. For more info, visit EBResearch.org.