Bruce Springsteen Tickets

Bruce Springsteen - Resources

• Official Bruce Springsteen Website
• Backstreets.com - Bruce Springsteen quarterly magazine

About Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey. His upbringing in the Garden State gave him his edge as part of the working class. Bruce Springsteen's ability as a songwriter was shown as he created songs about struggle and politics on his way to superstardom. At the age of 13, Bruce Springsteen bought himself a used guitar after being inspired by a television special featuring Elvis Presley; at that moment no one could have known that over 40 years later he would still be selling out tickets to his concerts. Springsteen has performed with a variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, the Dave Matthews Band, and other performers.

After teaching himself how to play piano and harmonica in school, Bruce Springsteen began performing at local clubs and bars. In 1972, he signed a record contract with Columbia Records and released his first album the following year. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) and Springsteen's second album, The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle (1973) were released to critical acclaim but without much commercial success. In 1974, Springsteen finalized the structure of the E Street Band. Membership has changed over time, but currently includes Springsteen, Gary Tallent on bass guitar and tuba, Clarence Clemons on percussion and saxophone, Max Weinberg on drums, Roy Bittan on piano and synthesizer, Steve Van Zandt on lead guitar, Nils Lofgren on pedal steel guitar, Patti Scialfa on backing and duet vocals and acoustic guitar, Soozie Tyrell on violin, and Charles Giordano on the organ and accordion. It wasn't until the release of Born to Run (1975) that Bruce Springsteen was sent into superstardom as a singer and songwriter. Critics were wild with Brucemania, and one of them even left his job to become Springsteen's manager, according to All Music Guide.

Bruce Springsteen is perhaps best known for his 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A.. The album saw seven hit singles released - including "Dancing in the Dark," "Cover Me," "Born in the U.S.A.," "I'm on Fire," "Glory Days," "I'm Goin' Down," and "My Hometown" - and sold over ten million copies. At that time, the album was the best selling album in the history of Columbia Records, and the single "Dancing in the Dark" won a 1984 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The song was so popular upon release that former President Ronald Reagan used it during his re-election campaign. Today, with a 15x platinum rating, it remains Springsteen's best selling album, and according to Wikipedia, is one of the best selling albums in recorded music history.

Throughout the course of his career, Bruce Springsteen has received plenty of critical acclaim and awards. He has racked up 18 Grammy Awards as well as an Academy Award in 1994. The Academy Award was given to Bruce Springsteen for his song "Streets of Philadelphia" which was written for the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia (1993). After winning the Academy Award for Best Song, the album went on to win multiple Grammy's the following year. Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and since then hasn't stopped writing conscientiously charged albums. The same year, Springsteen reformed the E Street Band, and they went on a Reunion Tour, including a three-night ending spectacular at Shea Stadium. Springsteen released The Rising in 2002, which reflects in part on the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in New York. He has also released the albums Devils and Dust (2005), We Shall Overcome (2007), Magic (2007), and most recently Working on a Dream in January 2009.

Also on Sale