Eddie Vedder pays tribute to The Tragically Hip, Gord Downie at Pearl Jam concert

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder paused during the rock band's Chicago concert Saturdayto talk about Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip's momentous tour finale.

"There's something going on north of the border tonight," Vedder told thousands of people in the audience at Wrigley Field last night."It involves somebody that we consider a family member just 'cause he's part of the group of touring musicians we've met over the years."

• 'Thank you for that': Tragically Hip put on poignant show for hometown crowd

"There's a guy who's got a band called Tragically Hip," he continued, as the crowd started to cheer. At one point, the jumbo screen cut to a fan wearing a Hip T-shirt.

Vedder, who explainedhe met the band when The Hip and Pearl Jam were both recording in Seattle, said he was told aboutDownie'sterminal brain cancer.

The Better Man and Jeremy singer called Downie "very courageous" for taking the group on one last tour, which ended Saturday night at a sold-out concert inKingston, Ont. The performance, whichwas broadcast live and onlineon CBC, reached11.7 million people on all platforms.

"So they're up there, going through the emotions up there. I just want to send them our energy from our gathering up to their gathering up there, and wish the best to Mr. Gord Downie. We love you," he said.

The group then performedLight Years,a song about the death of someone close.

"Your lights reflected now, reflected from afar," the song goes. "We were but stones.Your light made us stars."