"Into the Wild" is the first solo album from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder based on his contributions to the soundtrack for the film of the same name.
Director Sean Penn hand-picked Vedder to provide the music for the film. In the film's credits, Michael Brook is actually acknowledged for composing the film's original music (Vedder is primarily responsible for the songs in the film.) Vedder's cover of the song "Hard Sun" (originally written by Gordon Peterson who performed under the name of Indio on the album Big Harvest) features backing vocals by Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney and appears in the film, along with a slew of other folky ballads. Vedder collaborates with Jerry Hannan on the song "Society", written by Hannan.
The soundtrack debuted at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 39,000 copies in its first week. As of early January, the album has sold 219,603 copies.
Vedder won a 2008 Golden Globe for the song "Guaranteed" from Into the Wild. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his contributions to the film's original score. "Guaranteed" was also nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.