Stephan Jenkins Asks Autograph Seeker to Name a Third Eye Blind Song
In a viral video, Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins asks an autograph seeker to name a non-hit Third Eye Blind song, specifically from the band's third album, before he will give them a signature.
The moment was shared on TikTok by the paparazzo David Wilkins, who captured the exchange between Jenkins and a fan named Nick at Washington, D.C.'s Dulles Airport. In the clip, the rock singer initially refuses the autograph, expressing his concern about professional autograph dealers who only grab celebrity signatures to sell them. However, he does relent and sign for Nick.
Watch the video below.
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Third Eye Blind Singer Makes Autograph Seeker Name a 3EB Song
"Tell me a song that's on Out of the Vein," Jenkins, looking a little perturbed as he stands by an airport baggage carousel, is seen asking the autograph seeker in the video. (Out of the Vein is Third Eye Blind's 2003 studio album. It was the alt-rock act's last for Elektra Records and failed to reach the chart-topping heights of their earlier albums.)
Hearing Nick's reaction, including that they evidently had a Third Eye Blind record on them, Jenkins says, "I'll tell you what. There's a business of signing stuff that goes up on eBay, and I don't want to participate in it. Do you understand?"
But the singer adds, "I'll sign one record, OK?"
Stephan Jenkins Asks Autograph Seeker to Name Third Eye Blind Song
Jenkins Responds to the Video
In a statement to Business Insider, Jenkins later explained, "I go out most nights after shows on tour and sign records and T-shirts and such for fans. I get to hear their stories about how our music has impacted them and share the energy. It's a delight."
He added, "I do this so often, it makes it easy to spot a hustle [or] some[one] looking to make a buck off 3eb. I just don't want to be part of it. We see the real fans face to face at the fence after the shows."
But Wilkins admonished Jenkins in his own statement on this situation, saying the Third Eye Blind singer had eluded a group of fans and autograph dealers in an off-camera moment before they caught up with him at baggage claim.
"He could've signed for everyone in 3 minutes instead of the 10-minute lecture," the photographer told Business Insider. "Third Eye Blind peaked in the '90s so one would think they would be flattered that anyone asked for their autograph."
But while Wilkins apparently wasn't the one asking Jenkins for the autograph, he still seemingly admitted to being in on the autograph scheme. "We aren't getting rich from 3EB," he added. 'After eBay fees, cost of the record, gas prices, and parking at the airport, we make pennies on the dollar."
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