Bruce Springsteen Tour Overview
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. He is an originator of heartland rock, a genre combining mainstream rock music with poetic and socially conscious lyrics that tell a narrative about working-class American life. Nicknamed "The Boss", he is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, with performances that can last more than four hours.
Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, in 1973; neither earned him a large audience. He then changed his style and achieved worldwide popularity with Born to Run (1975). This was followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), which topped the Billboard 200 chart. After the solo album Nebraska (1982), he reunited with his E Street Band for Born in the U.S.A. (1984), which became his most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums of all time. All seven of its singles reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, including the title track. Springsteen mostly hired session musicians for the recording of his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992). He reassembled the E Street Band for Greatest Hits (1995), then recorded the acoustic album The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) and the EP Blood Brothers (1996).
About Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, on September 23, 1949. He is of Dutch, Irish, and Italian descent. He grew up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey. His mother, Adele Ann (née Zerilli; born 1925), was originally from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. She worked as a legal secretary and was the main breadwinner in the family. His father, Douglas Frederick "Dutch" Springsteen (1924–1998), worked various jobs such as a bus driver. His father had mental health issues throughout his life, which worsened in his later years. Springsteen has two younger sisters named Virginia and Pamela (born c. 1962). The latter had a brief acting career, but left to pursue photography and later took photos for his albums Human Touch, Lucky Town, and The Ghost of Tom Joad.
Springsteen's Italian maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense and emigrated through Ellis Island. He could not read or write when he arrived. He eventually became a lawyer and impressed the young Springsteen as being "larger than life". The Springsteen surname originates in the Dutch province of Groningen and is topographic, literally translating to "jump stone" and meaning a stepping stone used on unpaved streets or between two houses. The Springsteens were among the early Dutch families who settled in the colony of New Netherland in the 1600s. Springsteen's direct ancestor, John Springsteen, was a patriot in the American Revolution.
Bruce Springsteen Facts
- Bruce Springsteen has fans in high places. Barack Obama has said that there are "a handful of people who enter into your lives through their music and tell the American people's story.
- Springsteen had a bit of a hard time in school. "In the third grade, a nun stuffed me in a garbage can under her desk because she said that's where I belonged," Springsteen said. "I also had the distinction of being the only altar boy knocked down by a priest during mass."
- A minor planet in space has been named after Springsteen. Planet 23990 was officially named “Springsteen” in honor of the singer in 2001. The planet was first discovered in 1999 by New Zealand astronomer I.P. Griffin. Further, the name announcement was marked with this description by the Minor Planet Center (MPC): “Bruce Springsteen (b. 1949) is a singer and songwriter whose music has provided a social commentary upon late-twentieth-century America. On the night this minor planet was discovered, his music entertained the observers.”
- Springsteen is the first rock star to ever appear on the covers of both Newsweek and Time magazines at the same time.
