‘Song Sung Blue’ director shares Eddie Vedder connection to film

The new movie Song Sung Blue has an unexpected connection to Eddie Vedder.

The film is a biopic about Lightning & Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute duo made up of couple Mike Sardina and Claire Sardina, played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, respectively. In the movie, Lightning & Thunder get their big break when they’re invited to open for Pearl Jam.

“This is true,” Song Sung Blue director Craig Brewer tells Entertainment Weekly. “Eddie Vedder is the MVP of Lightning & Thunder.”

Pearl Jam posted footage from the concert to their Facebook, which was previously used in a 2008 documentary about Lightning & Thunder also called Song Sung Blue.

As Brewer tells it, the doc was almost blocked by Diamond’s publishing company. However, Vedder personally appealed to Diamond, who told his team to stand down upon seeing it.

“Eddie … even to this day, has been such a support in telling the story of Lightning & Thunder, even to the extent of — we wanted to use the song ‘Alive’ off of his first album [Pearl Jam’s Ten],” Brewer says. “They have never licensed that song, ever. It’s always been an automatic no. And he gave it to us.”

Song Sung Blue is in theaters now.