Yesterday Matt Cameron, Pearl Jam’s fifth and longest-serving drummer, announced he was leaving the band after 27 years. Fans have been speculating about who could replace him, suggesting axed Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese and original PJ drummer Dave Krusen, who performed some shows with them a couple of years ago when Cameron got COVID. One drummer it probably won’t be is Dave Abbruzzese.

“Due to the announcement of the mighty Matt Cameron choosing to step down from the throne he has had for the past 27 years, there has been much talk of my drumming, and the what if and would may never be, of late,” Abbruzzese wrote on Facebook today, continuing:

I thought I would take the opportunity to share some recent and past works with all of you that have bombarded my Facebook & Instagram pages with literally 1000’s of posts, messages and emails, hoping I would call Pearl Jam and attempt to reconcile with them. To be clear, I have nothing to reconcile with them about.

My firing from the band and the subsequent trials and tribulations caused by the actions of the band’s management and the band’s old label that made things challenging for me weren’t completely my doing. With the exceptions of some petty comments and actions that I never quite understood or expected, I have never placed blame and harbored resentments towards the members of the band.

I have been blessed to have participated in some remarkable musical projects with remarkable people over the last 30 post Pearl Jam years. Although I never truly understood what was so important to destroy the musical chemistry we had back then, it is what it is, and I can’t do anything about it. At least nothing that I can figure out. The years since 1995 have served me well towards growing as a person and a player.

It seems the guys in the band matured and grew up as much as I did, but the fact that I haven’t had any personal contact with any of them leads me to believe the water under the bridge runs too deep and too icy for there to be any reconnection or reconciliation.

This is a shame and saddens me, greatly.

I know I could and would have much to contribute if indeed the call came, but sadly, I don’t see that happening.

Abbruzzese played with Pearl Jam on the albums Vs. and Vitalogy, on SNL and MTV Unplugged, and on tours from 1991 to 1994, before he got unceremoniously fired (There were the competing statements from the band and him at the time). We last posted about Abbruzzese when he complained about not being invited to Pearl Jam’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction.

In a 2001 Spin oral history, bassist Jeff Ament talked a little about about the band’s split with him. “There were a lot of things, personality wise, where I didn’t see eye to eye with [Dave],” he said. “He was more comfortable being a rock star than the rest of us. Partying, girls, cars.”

A decade later, in the book Pearl Jam 20, guitarist Mike McCready admitted, “I think Dave and Ed never really got along.” Producer Brendan O’Brien suggested Abbruzzese’s response to damaging of Eddie Vedder’s ’69 Les Paul was part of it.

“He says to me, ‘I knocked this guitar over. I’ll pay to have it fixed,'” O’Brien said. “He’d knocked the headstock off. It was a complete and total accident. I remember saying, ‘Maybe you should hang around and talk to Eddie about it.’ But he’s like, ‘I’ve gotta go.’ Eddie came later, and I showed him the guitar. The look on his face was one of such contempt. I’ll never forget it.”

In 1994, when Abbruzzese was fired, fans using the early Internet forum Usenet speculated that a post-Nirvana/pre-Foo Fighters Dave Grohl would replace him. This all feels very déjà vu. Maybe Abbruzzese can join Foo Fighters?

Here’s the second half of Abbruzzese’s post, in which he writes about what he’s been up to since Pearl Jam:

I have been involved in so many wonder-filled projects. The production of The Green Romance Orchestra albums with my dear family of Gary J. Muller , Paul Slavens , Doug Neil , Darrell Phillips, Jimmy Shoaf and the extraordinary mastering engineer and one of my best friends Joe Gastwirt , all near and dear to my heart. Working with Roger Hodgson of Supertramp fame, and getting to form and maintain loving relationships with Rogers lovely family, Heidi Hodgson and Andrew Hodgson. G & R. Working with Eddie Kramer , Noel Redding, William Cox, Doug Pinnick , Corey Cornell James Glover and Eric Schenkman … Some co-production, drumming and mixing for albums by Stevie Salas that introduced me to my brothers Bernard Fowler , Tm Stevens, Jara Harris Melvin Jr. Brannon, Kevin W Smith, Vincent Ruby p. Huxley Jamie Seyberth, Matt Sorum .. and the joys of touring performing live music with the IMFs. Working with the incomparable Waddy Wachtel Carmine Rojas , Reeves Gabriel, Rick The Bass Player, & Robi Banerji . Mr. Peter Cornell , who I had the fortune of working on some touch up mixes for Peter, Joseph Shaughnessy and Will Evankovich when they were a band named Grace. My heroes, Mike Dillon , JJ Jungle , Zac Baird, John IV Speice gathering at my studio in Seattle’s Magnolia district for the HABMX “Out Demons” album. Jeff Fielder, Zach Harjo Perry Morgan , John Bush and the Speakeasy Junction jams. Peter Cornell’s “Champion” album. Pseutopia music with Shyam Narayan , Laji George & Mithun Raju . The Shy Blossom album. Countless one off tracks. Carlos Garcia-Menocal. The works with John X Volaitis , Scott Reeder and Royston Langdon. Not to mention the great times shared with working on quarantine jams with an incredibly talented line up of Marcus Nand , Carmine Rojas, Bernard Fowler, Cici Von Strangelove , Eric Schenkman , Benny Goodman, Jeff Fielder, James Mauri, Shani Kimelman , Aubrey Seaton , Lynn Seaton , Rob van den Biggelaar Taryn Taryn , Joanna Connor , Jeff Nolan , Jeff Weiss, Charlie Berezansky , Daniel James, Jim Regan , Brian Dahlen … Stacy Hogan & Sin SHAKE Sin.

Contributing drum tracks for the album by the exceptional Joanna Connor.

The Lost Symphony with Jimi Bell , Brian Goodman , Benny Goodman , Siobhán Cronin | Violinist Joey Concepcion, and a cast of exceptionally talented players. The time shared writing and planning with my friend Shawn Smith before his untimely passing.

And so many more…

Plus add to that the personal aspects of my life, blessed with a beautiful and talented daughter… overcoming substance abuse, embracing insanity and coming out on the other side, working in the field of recovery, legal issues, a failed marriage…

Needless to say, music is still very important and a continued passion without any doubt.

My drumming and passion for giving it my all is still as powerful as ever.

I wish Pearl Jam and its organization continued success and I do hope that there will come a day that we can again connect on some level. All that being said, I do ask that you please stop sending me messages asking & telling me to contact their management.

I appreciate and understand your desire to see what could come out of that reunion musically. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, also.

With much love and appreciation,

Dave

PS…all of you music “news” sites, if you’re going to use this message as click bait, please post it in its entirety.