Big '90s Rock Bands Are Joined by Mainstream Celebs for Collabs

Two big onstage collaborations were the buzz of the BottleRock Music Festival over the weekend, with actor Bradley Cooper joining Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and pop star Ed Sheeran further showing his punk devotion by strapping on a guitar to play to live out a lifelong dream with The Offspring.

A Jackson "Maine" Stage Performance

During Pearl Jam's Saturday set (May 25) at Napa Valley's BottleRock Festival, the band was joined by a surprise guest as actor Bradley Cooper pulled up alongside Eddie Vedder to duet on the song "Maybe It's Time" from the Cooper-starring film A Star Is Born.

Fans may remember that Cooper, who starred as rock star Jackson Maine in the film, turned to Vedder for advice during filming of the movie in how to portray his character onscreen.

Pearl Jam played a 22-song set at BottleRock, with Cooper's guest turn coming just after the group played "Last Kiss" to kick off their encore. The actor then returned at the end of the set to join Pearl Jam on their cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." Fan-shot video can be seen below.

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder + Bradley Cooper, "Maybe It's Time" at BottleRock 2024

Pearl Jam + Bradley Cooper, "Rockin' in the Free World" at BottleRock 2024

Sheeran Springs Into Action

The other buzzy collab of the weekend came when headliner Ed Sheeran continued to build his rock cred by hopping up onstage with The Offspring. He strapped on his guitar to hop up onstage and perform "Million Miles Away" from the band's Conspiracy of One album.

About midway into their 14-song set, singer Dexter Holland revealed that The Offspring were about to do a song they hadn't done in a while. "We were hanging out backstage and saying hello to some people," explained Holland, while guitarist Noodles added, "Someone said this was one of their favorite songs ... and he said he might be open to playing it with us." They called him an "up-and -coming kid," and mentioned that he might have a future before welcoming Ed Sheeran to the stage.

It appears as though Sheeran's fandom is legit as he revealed in an Instagram post, "The first album I ever bought was the @offspring - Conspiracy of One. I used to pretend to be in their band in the mirror and sing along to the album when I was 9, mostly to their song 'Million Miles Away' as it was the first song of theirs I heard. I mentioned it in an interview and Noodles / Dexter got in touch with me when we found out we were all playing the same festival, to see if I wanted to get on stage and sing it. It was an instant yes obvz."

He added, "Really felt like living out a childhood dream thank you for having me up there guys. Music is a wild ride, every day I’m so grateful to be living my dream in reality." As for the hanging out backstage, Sheeran also revealed his Offspring tattoo to the band as can be seen below.