[63] The album sold well, becoming his first No. Source: Wikipedia. Springsteen released an official statement on his website. While rejecting religion in his earlier years, Springsteen stated in his autobiography Born to Run, "I have a personal relationship with Jesus. [125][126] The River 2016 Tour was the top-grossing worldwide tour of 2016; it pulled in $268.3 million globally and was the highest-grossing tour since 2014 for any artist topping Taylor Swift's 2015 tour which grossed $250.1 million. Knobler profiled him in Crawdaddy three times, in 1973, 1975 and 1978. But the truth is, I basically ignored the entire thing as much as I could. The book rose quickly to the top of the NY Times Best Sellers List. [citation needed], In 1995, after temporarily re-organizing the E Street Band for a few new songs recorded for his first Greatest Hits album (a recording session that was chronicled in the documentary Blood Brothers), and also one show at Tramps in New York City,[citation needed] he released his second folk album, The Ghost of Tom Joad. The song "Cover Me" was written by Springsteen for Donna Summer, but his record company persuaded him to keep it for the new album. Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is both a solo artist and the leader of the E Street Band. [144] The livestream attracted over 9 million viewers and raised over $700,000 (with software company and show sponsor Pegasystems donating the first $151,000). Springsteen has sold more than 135 million records worldwide and more than 64 million records in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling artists. Douglas Springsteen suffered from mental health problems throughout his life which worsened in his later years. But when his manager, Mike Appel, orchestrated the release of an early mix of "Born to Run" to nearly a dozen radio stations, anticipation built toward the album's release. The lengthy, worldwide, small-venue solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour that followed successfully presented many of his older songs in drastically reshaped acoustic form, although Springsteen had to explicitly remind his audiences to be quiet and not to clap during the performances. [citation needed], In April 2006, Springsteen released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, an American roots music project focused around a big folk sound treatment of 15 songs popularized by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger. Some of the material was written almost 10 years earlier during, or shortly after, the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, with a few having been performed then but not released. The film features Springsteen and his backing band performing the music from Western Stars to a live audience. [36], Springsteen's prolific songwriting ability (with "more words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums", as his future record label would describe it in early publicity campaigns) brought his skills to the attention of several people who were about to change his life: New managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, who in turn brought him to the attention of Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond. [33] Elwood went on to praise their "cohesive musicality" and, in particular, singled out Springsteen as "a most impressive composer". [139], It was announced on July 23, 2019, that Springsteen would premiere his film, Western Stars, at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2019. [citation needed] In October 1975, Springsteen appeared on the covers of both Newsweek and Time in the same week. "[185] In April 2016, Springsteen cancelled a show in Greensboro, North Carolina days before it was to take place to protest the state's newly passed Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also referred to as the "bathroom law", which dictates which restrooms transgender people are permitted to use and prevents LGBT citizens from suing over human rights violations in the workplace. ", "#SpringsteenBroadway has been EXTENDED! As of July 2016[update], The River 2016 Tour has been the highest grossing worldwide tour with 1.1 million tickets sold and over $135 million in box office revenue, according to Billboard Boxscore's mid-year report. In late 1989, he dissolved the E Street Band. From June 15 to August 10, 1985, all seven of his albums appeared on the UK Albums Chart: the first time an artist had charted their entire back catalogue simultaneously. Charles Giordano filled in as Federici's replacement. [47], In September 1973, Springsteen's second album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, was released, again to critical acclaim but no commercial success. On April 17, 2008, Federici died of cancer.[86][87]. Unspoken was the fact that his elderly mother Adele has been suffering from Alzheimer’s for a number of years. [73] In 1998, he released the sprawling, four-disc box set of outtakes, Tracks. Manfred Mann's Earth Band had achieved a US No. Previously, he had dated photographer Lynn Goldsmith and model Karen Darvin. Obama added that Springsteen's concerts were not just rock-and-roll concerts, but "communions". She made her show-jumping debut with the Team USA in August 2014. [61], By the late 1970s, Springsteen had earned a reputation in the pop world as a songwriter whose material could provide hits for other bands. The Music Quiz: Which U2 video features an appearance of Boyzone? [104], Springsteen's 17th studio album, Wrecking Ball, was released on March 6, 2012. [64], The River was followed in 1982 by the stark solo acoustic Nebraska. He had a planet named after him in 1999. And so you lose one or two, that's not so great." “The footage from inside some of the ERs that we’ve seen should be enough to convince you to stay safe, behave responsibly and heed the warning of your medical professionals,” he said. [58][59] So great did the wave of publicity become that he eventually rebelled against it during his first venture overseas, tearing down promotional posters before a concert appearance in London. The band performed five final shows at Giants Stadium, opening with a new song highlighting the historic stadium, and Springsteen's Jersey roots, named "Wrecking Ball". [95] A few days before the game, Springsteen gave a rare press conference at which he promised a "twelve-minute party. The rest of the show mixed mournful songs like Neil Young’s “When God Made Me” and the Sensational Nightingales’ “Burying Ground” with Springsteen reading the names of people that died from COVID-19, touching on everyone from everyday citizens to cultural icons like John Prine and Adam Schlesinger. [76] At the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, The Rising won the Grammy for Best Rock Album and was nominated for the Grammy for Album of the Year. He remarked that his faith had given him a "very active spiritual life" but joked that this "made it very difficult sexually". So at the moment, 2020 seems to have opened up.” Max Weinberg also said he planned on touring with his own band from April through December 2020. It was certified 15× platinum in the US and has sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Among them is Aine Carville. Three songs previously only available as live versions—"Wrecking Ball", "Land of Hope and Dreams", and "American Land"—appear on the album. It proved to be a breakthrough album[54][55][56] that catapulted Springsteen to worldwide fame. [108][109][110], At year's end, the Wrecking Ball Tour was named Top Draw for having the top attendance out of any tour by the Billboard Touring Awards. During a career that has spanned five decades, Springsteen has become known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours in length. Vote. [151] Springsteen's themes include social and political commentary[152][153] and are rooted in the struggles faced by his own family of origin.[154]. [88] He gave solo acoustic performances in support of Obama's campaign throughout 2008,[89] culminating with a November 2 rally at which he debuted the song "Working on a Dream" in a duet with Scialfa. Watch Georgia Senate Candidate Jon Ossoff Destroy Republican David Perdue Over Health Care Failures, Eddie Van Halen: The Joy and Pain of Rock’s Last Guitar Superhero, Jimmy Page on His Vision for Led Zeppelin, Watch Dave Grohl Fight Coffee Addiction in Freshpotix Parody Ad, Billy Joe Shaver, Seminal Outlaw-Country Songwriter, Dead at 81, Neil Young’s Older Brother Bob Young Releases First Song at Age 78, Flashback: U2 Play an Emotional ‘Kite’ at Ireland’s Slane Castle in 2001, Flashback: Genesis Take Fans Back to the ‘Distant, Dark’ Seventies. Decades later, Rolling Stone magazine would name the stand as one of the 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll.