Jeremy Delle walked into his English class at Richardson High School on Jan. 8, 1991, and shot himself in front of his fellow students.
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder read about the tragic suicide in a newspaper, and the 15-year-old’s story became the inspiration for “Jeremy,” the third single off the band's debut album Ten.
Nearly 30 years after his death, Jeremy's mom, Wanda Crane, has spoken publicly for the first time.
“That day that he died did not define his life,” she told local Dallas station WFAA in a recent interview. “He was a son, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a grandson. He was a friend. He was talented.”
As the song suggests (“At home drawing pictures / of mountaintops”), Jeremy was already an accomplished artist at the time of his death. His artwork won awards at state fairs, including Best of Show, all before he was 12.
His mother hosts a grief support group at her church, and when she hears news of school shootings, she thinks of the families, and how the student will be portrayed. “But it's the mothers and sisters that I want to wrap my arms around and tell them someday it'll be better,” she said.
Britanny King, who was in Jeremy's English class that fateful day, also spoke out about the song. “I was angry at them for writing that song,” she admitted. “I thought, 'You don’t know. You weren’t there. That story isn’t accurate.’”
Watch the full WFAA segment below:
Original article by Katrina Nattress at iHeartRadio