Jeffrey Allen “Jeff” Ament (born March 10, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam.

Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the band’s founding members, and is also known for his work prior to Pearl Jam with the 1980s Seattle-based grunge rock bands Green River and Mother Love Bone, and is particularly notable for his work with the fretless bass, upright bass, and twelve-string bass guitar. Ament is also a member of the bands Temple of the Dog, Tres Mts., Three Fish and RNDM.

In 2008, Ament released his first solo album, Tone. A second solo album, While My Heart Beats, followed in 2012.

Ament was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam on April 7, 2017.

Early life
The first of five children, Ament was born in Havre, Montana to George and Penny Ament and grew up in the town of Big Sandy, Montana, a town with a population of less than 700. Ament’s father George was mayor of Big Sandy for fifteen years, as well as a barber and a school bus driver. Ament described his family growing up as “pretty poor” and “hard-core Catholic”.

He began playing the bass guitar as a teenager, often playing along with Ramones, The Clash, and The Police records. Ament participated in basketball, football, and track at Big Sandy High School, from which he graduated in 1981. He then went on to college at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, where he studied art and played basketball. Ament quit college in the middle of his second year after the university told him they were no longer going to continue its graphic design program.Ament then relocated to Seattle, Washington in 1983 with his band Deranged Diction. While in Seattle, Ament got a job working at a coffee shop in Belltown.

Personal life
Ament currently lives in Seattle, Washington and Missoula, Montana. Aside from music, Ament’s interests include skateboarding, basketball, graphic design, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. He was a fan and season ticket holder of the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics. Ament assisted in financing the construction of Missoula’s Mobash Skatepark. He and his partner Pandora Andre-Beatty climbed Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro in support of Save the Children.

Ament is a supporter of organic farming and United States Senator Jon Tester. Tester grew up near Big Sandy and Ament knew of Tester before either were famous. Ament campaigned for Tester in 2006.

In April 2009, Ament was attacked at knifepoint by a gang of muggers. According to Rolling Stone, Ament had just pulled up outside the Southern Tracks recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia, when his rented jeep was attacked by several men, who smashed the vehicle’s windows and demanded money. The magazine also reported that Ament was knocked to the ground while trying to escape the robbers. He sustained a head injury and was treated at the scene. His Blackberry and passport, as well as a sum of cash, were stolen.

On February 16, 2016 he married Pandora Andre-Beatty.

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