Pearl Jam Include Philanthropy as Part of Chicago Appearance

Yes Chicago, Pearl Jam are coming to town, but long after the final note rings out at Wrigley Field the band's presence will still be felt in the Windy City. That's because the philanthropic rockers are making their appearance in Chicago about something greater than just a show.

Ahead of tonight's performance, the band reached out to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a list of local arts nonprofit organizations that were doing great work but remained in definite need of funding. According to the Chicago Sun Times, Emanuel and his staff provided a list of organizations and Pearl Jam picked out Marwen and the South Chicago Art Center as their beneficiaries during their Chicago visit.

Over the years, the band have been contributing funds from ticket sales to worthwhile organizations and it's expected that the sold out show at Wrigley Field could yield up to $80,000 for the two beneficiaries.

"We wanted to do something that would provide Chicago's youth access to arts education," said guitarist Stone Gossard. "All of us in the band found our way in the world through art and music. It opened our eyes and gave us a kind of language to better understand ourselves and the world. These two organizations are doing amazing work with visual arts and the city's young people."

On top of Pearl Jam's donations, the Chicago Cubs Charities and Theo Epstein's own Foundation to be Named Later organization are chipping in an additional $10,000 and $15,000 respectively for each charity. Meanwhile, Live Nation is kicking in $5,000 for the research of Epidermolysis Bullosa through Healeb.org, a cause that is a favorite of Eddie Vedder and his wife.

To learn more about each organization, visit the Marwen.org, Happyartcenter.org and Healeb.org websites.