Bruce Springsteen

In a memorable declaration, Bruce Springsteen voiced his aim to craft a record whose lyrics evoked Bob Dylan, whose production recalled Phil Spector, and whose singing suggested Roy Orbison, a concise outline of much of his creative drive and part of the reason for his widespread draw. No other songwriter-performer labeled “the new Dylan” during the opening years of the 1970s embraced his immersion in 1960s Top 40 radio as openly as Springsteen did. Rock & roll in every form—the raw energy of the 1950s, the orchestral pop that preceded the Beatles, and the garage groups that followed the British Invasion—shaped his sound, and traces of all these styles appeared inside the expansive, unruly E Street Band, which first appeared on his 1973 sophomore album The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle and backed him for the bulk of his professional life. That ensemble let Springsteen explore rock & roll, soul, and jazz alike, yet he periodically stepped away for solitary projects, frequently spare acoustic sets that deliberately extended the narrative tradition Woody Guthrie had established. In those recordings Springsteen elevated ordinary working people to mythic status, though the same romantic impulse surfaced in his electric music, most vividly on the 1975 album Born to Run. Met with ecstatic notices and the unusual honor of simultaneous Time and Newsweek cover stories, Born to Run established Springsteen nationally; in the years that followed he maintained momentum through steady touring with the E Street Band and the well-received, commercially successful Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River. Global superstardom arrived with 1984’s Born in the U.S.A., a fifteen-million-selling blockbuster that transformed him into an international icon. Adjusting to the pressures of fame proved difficult; he parted from the E Street Band for nearly ten years while issuing albums of uneven reception, yet at the start of the new century he reassembled the group for a triumphant tour and experienced creative renewal with 2002’s The Rising. Thereafter Springsteen retained the E Street Band as his primary touring unit and frequently brought them into the studio for releases such as 2007’s Magic and 2020’s Letter to You. He also continued independent ventures, including the autobiographical solo stage show Springsteen on Broadway in 2017, the sweeping, filmic 2019 album Western Stars, and Only the Strong Survive, a 2022 set of soul covers.

Bruce Springsteen entered the world on September 23, 1949, in Freehold, New Jersey, as the child of bus driver Douglas Springsteen and secretary Adele (Zirilli) Springsteen. His musical awakening followed Elvis Presley’s 1956 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; although he received a guitar at that time, he did not begin serious practice until 1963. In 1965 he joined the Castiles, his first Beatles-influenced group, which reached New York City stages before disbanding in 1967, the same year Springsteen finished high school and started visiting Asbury Park, New Jersey, clubs. He next spent a brief period with the Cream-styled hard-rock outfit Earth, then formed Child, soon renamed Steel Mill, whose lineup included keyboardist Danny Federici and drummer Vini Lopez (guitarist Steve Van Zandt later joined on bass). Steel Mill performed in California in 1969, earning a glowing San Francisco review and a recording contract offer, yet dissolved in 1971. Springsteen next assembled the short-lived big band Dr. Zoom & the Cosmic Boom, quickly replaced by the Bruce Springsteen Band. Alongside Federici, Lopez, and Van Zandt (now on guitar), this aggregation added pianist David Sancious, bassist Garry Tallent, and a horn section that soon shrank to saxophonist Clarence Clemons alone. With little work available, Springsteen dissolved the group and began solo appearances in New York City. It was in that solo capacity that he secured manager Mike Appel, who secured an audition with Columbia talent scout John Hammond; Hammond signed Springsteen to the label in 1972.

While preparing his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., Springsteen immediately recalled most of his former sidemen—Federici, Lopez, Sancious, Tallent, and Clemons—although Van Zandt remained largely unavailable while touring with the Dovells. The January 1973 release drew little initial attention, even though Manfred Mann’s Earth Band later converted its opening track “Blinded by the Light” into a number-one hit four years afterward; the album itself has since achieved double-platinum status. The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, issued in September 1973, likewise sold modestly despite enthusiastic notices and has also reached double platinum. The following year Springsteen overhauled his backing unit—now formally titled the E Street Band—after Lopez and Sancious departed and drummer Max Weinberg and pianist Roy Bittan arrived; Van Zandt rejoined in 1975. With this configuration he toured relentlessly while completing the album that Columbia had designated his final opportunity. By the August 1975 release of Born to Run, critics and a devoted following stood firmly behind him; the title track became a Top 40 single, the album climbed to the Top Ten, and it has since sold six million copies.

Legal complications soon stalled the momentum. After parting from Appel and installing rock critic Jon Landau—famous for labeling Springsteen the “rock & roll future” in a 1974 concert review—as his new manager, Springsteen found himself unable to record until the dispute resolved in 1977. During the interim Patti Smith benefited when Springsteen supplied her with the song “Because the Night,” which, after her lyric adjustments, became her sole Top 40 hit in spring 1978. He re-emerged in June 1978 with Darkness on the Edge of Town and faced the task of rebuilding his audience. Numerous labels had meanwhile cultivated their own “heartland rock” acts, among them Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Johnny Cougar (later John Mellencamp), Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Meat Loaf, Eddie Money, and fellow New Jersey Shore residents Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. Concurrently, punk and new wave had captured critical focus, rendering Springsteen momentarily unfashionable. Nevertheless Darkness garnered strong reviews, reached the Top Ten, and sold three million copies while the single “Prove It All Night” charted in the Top 40; early the next year the Pointer Sisters took his composition “Fire” into the Top Ten.

Springsteen solidified his position with the two-record set The River, released in October 1980. It topped the chart, sold five million copies, and yielded the Top Ten single “Hungry Heart” plus the Top 40 hit “Fade Away.” Between 1981 and 1982 Gary U.S. Bonds placed two Springsteen songs—“This Little Girl” and “Out of Work”—in the Top 40. Having finally reached number one, Springsteen chose an experimental direction for his next project, preferring the stark demo recordings that became Nebraska (September 1982) over full-band studio versions because of the songs’ somber themes. The austere album still reached the Top Ten and sold a million copies without a hit single or tour; at this juncture Van Zandt amicably exited the E Street Band for a solo career and was succeeded by Nils Lofgren.

Then arrived Born in the U.S.A. in June 1984 and its two-year world tour. The record hit number one, generated seven Top Ten singles—“Dancing in the Dark” (which earned Springsteen his first Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance), “Cover Me,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “I’m on Fire,” “Glory Days,” “I’m Goin’ Down,” and “My Hometown”—and sold fifteen million copies, elevating Springsteen alongside Michael Jackson and Prince. For his subsequent release he capitalized on his live reputation with the five-LP/three-CD box set Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live/1975-85 (November 1986), which also reached number one, earned thirteen-times-platinum certification, and produced a Top Ten cover of Edwin Starr’s “War.” In March 1987 “the Barbusters”—in reality Joan Jett & the Blackhearts—took Springsteen’s composition “Light of Day” into the Top 40.

True to form, Springsteen followed with the more introspective Tunnel of Love (October 1987), which foreshadowed his 1989 divorce from first wife, actress Julianne Phillips. He had married singer-songwriter-guitarist Patti Scialfa, who joined the E Street Band as a backing vocalist in 1984. The album again topped the chart, sold three million copies, and spawned two Top Ten singles—“Brilliant Disguise” and the title track—plus the Top 40 hit “One Step Up,” securing Springsteen a second Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. In spring 1988 Natalie Cole turned the Springsteen B-side “Pink Cadillac” into a Top Ten single.

Springsteen withdrew from the spotlight at the close of the 1980s, officially disbanding the E Street Band in November 1989. He resurfaced in March 1992 with a new ensemble and simultaneously issued Human Touch and Lucky Town, which debuted at numbers two and three respectively and each attained platinum status; a double-sided single pairing “Human Touch” and “Better Days” reached the Top 40. Although this marked a commercial retreat from mid-1980s peaks, Springsteen pressed forward. He contributed the brooding ballad “Streets of Philadelphia” to the soundtrack of Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia; the track became a Top Ten hit, earned four Grammys (Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television, and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance), and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Early in 1995 Springsteen reconvened the E Street Band to cut several new songs for Greatest Hits (February 1995). The collection topped the chart, sold four million copies, and saw one of the new tracks, “Secret Garden,” eventually reach the Top 40. Despite this success Springsteen declined to maintain an ongoing reunion at that moment. Instead he recorded another sparse, somber, largely acoustic album in the spirit of Nebraska— The Ghost of Tom Joad (November 1995)—and toured alone to promote it. The record captured a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album yet missed the Top Ten and achieved only gold status.

A far more prolific writer and recorder than his officially released catalog suggested, Springsteen mined his archive to compile the four-CD box set Tracks (November 1998), which went platinum. Whether moved by the performances preserved on those tapes, responding to persistent fan demand, or simply honoring the musicians with whom he had achieved his greatest commercial triumphs, Springsteen finally reunited the E Street Band in 1999, beginning with a performance at his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Every member from the 1974–1989 lineup returned; characteristically, Springsteen avoided choosing between Van Zandt and Lofgren for guitar by rehiring both. They undertook a world tour lasting until mid-2000, with its concluding shows documented on Live in New York City, which reached the Top Ten and sold a million copies.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, lent added urgency to Springsteen’s effort to create a new rock album with E Street Band members. The resulting The Rising (July 2002) addressed the tragedy; it hit number one, sold two million copies, won the Grammy for Best Rock Album, and its title track earned Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. After another extended tour with the band, Springsteen revisited the stark mood of Nebraska on the solo Devils & Dust (April 2005) and again traveled alone to support it. The album reached number one, went gold, and won a Grammy for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. One year later he introduced a fresh approach with We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (April 2006), presenting new arrangements of Pete Seeger-associated folk songs performed with a specially formed Sessions Band. The record reached the Top Ten, earned gold certification, won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, and the subsequent tour yielded the concert album Live in Dublin (June 2007), which charted in the Top 40.

Springsteen next recorded the rock album Magic (October 2007) before reassembling the E Street Band for another lengthy tour. The album topped the chart, went platinum, and “Radio Nowhere” received Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance; the following year another track, “Girls in Their Summer Clothes,” also won the rock song Grammy. Longtime E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici died on April 17, 2008, after a three-year struggle with melanoma—the first permanent personnel change. Saxophonist Clarence Clemons passed away on June 18, 2011, from stroke complications. Federici’s replacement, Charles Giordano, had previously performed with Springsteen in the Sessions Band.

Springsteen concluded the tour in 2008 and performed additional concerts supporting Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. While appearing at a rally in early November he premiered material from the forthcoming Working on a Dream, recorded with the E Street Band during tour breaks. The album, the last to feature contributions from Federici and his son Jason, arrived January 27, 2009—one week after Obama’s inauguration—immediately reached number one, Springsteen’s ninth chart-topping album across three decades, went gold, and earned him another Grammy for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. In February, Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at halftime of Super Bowl XLIII. Their tour, which included full performances of selected classic albums at certain shows, ran through November 22, 2009. In December the sixty-year-old ranked fourth among the decade’s top touring acts, behind only the Rolling Stones, U2, and Madonna, and received a Kennedy Center Honor.

Springsteen devoted 2010 to an expanded reissue of Darkness on the Edge of Town titled The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, which contained a feature-length documentary and a separate double-disc collection of outtakes. While beginning work on a studio album produced by Ron Aniello—who had previously collaborated with Patti Scialfa—Clarence Clemons died. Clemons’s final recorded solo appears on “Land of Hope and Dreams,” one of several politically charged tracks on the resulting Wrecking Ball. Amid an extensive promotional campaign that included a week of Springsteen covers on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and a keynote address at South by Southwest, Wrecking Ball arrived the first week of March 2012. Before month’s end Springsteen launched a massive world tour that eventually visited twenty-six countries over eighteen months.

Late in 2013 the E Street Band received belated induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, scheduled for early 2014. Ahead of the ceremony came High Hopes, Springsteen’s eighteenth studio album. Partly inspired by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello—who had temporarily replaced Van Zandt for the final six months of the Wrecking Ball tour and also played on the record—High Hopes gathered covers, reinterpretations of earlier material, and unreleased tracks. It appeared in January 2014, easily reached number one, and Springsteen toured with the E Street Band through late spring. He also issued the EP American Beauty, comprising four previously unreleased songs from the High Hopes sessions.

In late 2015 Springsteen released another extensive audio/video box set focused on a landmark album. The Ties That Bind: The River Collection presented a remastered version of the 1980 record, an extensive disc of outtakes, an early single-LP configuration Springsteen had withdrawn before release, an original documentary on the album’s creation, and a complete concert filmed in Tempe, Arizona, in 1980. In fall 2016 he published the memoir Born to Run, accompanied by the career-spanning collection Chapter & Verse, which he personally assembled.

Shortly after the memoir’s release, Springsteen adapted it for the stage in Springsteen on Broadway, which opened in October 2017 and ran until December 2018. The production was later captured on film and a double-disc album that debuted at number eleven on Billboard’s Top 200.

In June 2019 Springsteen returned with his first collection of original material in five years. Western Stars, a solo album produced by Aniello, debuted at number two on Billboard’s Top 200. Later that year he released the self-directed concert film of the same name together with its soundtrack. Springsteen next reunited the E Street Band for Letter to You, recorded live in the studio and featuring completed versions of songs he had written in the early 1970s. The album appeared in October 2020, reached number two on the Billboard 200, and was followed by the archival release The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts in November 2021. Springsteen then recorded a set of classic soul covers with Aniello; titled after a Jerry Butler hit, Only the Strong Survive arrived in November 2022, debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In 2023 Springsteen and Patti Scialfa contributed the single “Addicted to Romance” to the soundtrack of the romantic comedy She Came to Me. Additional archival projects appeared in 2024, including the third volume of The Live Series: Songs Under Cover and the singer’s eighth compilation, Best of Bruce Springsteen. Production also began on director Scott Cooper’s biographical film Deliver Me from Nowhere, with Jeremy Allen White portraying Springsteen.