In recognition of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 5th, Pearl Jam unearthed the uncensored version of their 1992 video for “Jeremy”.
To date, “Jeremy” remains one of Pearl Jam’s most chilling and affecting songs, based on the real-life suicide of high school student Jeremy Wade Delle, who shot himself in front of his classmates in January 1991. The accompanying video depicts the incident in graphic detail, though the edited version zoomed in on Jeremy’s face so that his gun could not be seen. The uncensored version includes the haunting final scene with Jeremy putting a gun in his mouth.
“The increase in gun violence since the debut of ‘Jeremy’ is staggering,” Pearl Jam wrote in an accompanying social media post. “We have released the uncensored version of the video which was unavailable in 1992 with TV censorship laws.”
“We can prevent gun deaths whether mass shootings, deaths of despair, law enforcement, or accidental,” the band added.
Pearl Jam have also released a new version of their 1992-era Choices t-shirt with proceeds benefiting organizations working to prevent gun violence.
Tragically, the star of the video, Trevor Wilson, died in 2016 after drowning in Puerto Rico.