Pearl Jam has issued a statement saying that drummer Jack Irons has been replaced by ex-Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron for the band's pending tour. Irons, they say, is off the road because of ill health, but they did not elaborate.

"It's unfortunate that Jack is not able to perform with us this summer and we hope he gets well soon." said the statement, issued late Friday. "However, we are very focused on the upcoming tour and we are all excited about playing with Matt."

The choice of Cameron as the replacement comes as no surprise, he's well connected to Pearl Jam. He played on some early demos and was also a member of the side project Temple of the Dog, a tribute to their late friend Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone, along with Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCready. Soundgarden's Chris Cornell was also in that band.

Irons, who is credited with helping facilitate the birth of Pearl Jam by having passed Stone Gossard demos to Eddie Vedder, was the band's third drummer. An original member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he replaced Dave Abbruzzese in 1994 after Pearl Jam had completed work on "Vitalogy." Irons' first recorded appearance with the band came when it backed Neil Young on 1995's "Mirror Ball."

As we previously reported (see "Pearl Jam, Wyclef, Blues Traveler, Kraftwerk Added To Tibet Show Line-Up"), Pearl Jam will play at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington, D.C. on June 13 and 14 before kicking off its Yield Tour in Missoula, Montana on June 20.