About

Bruce Springsteen (born on September 23, 1949, in Long Branch, New Jersey) is an American musician, singer, and band leader. Dubbed “The Boss,” he is a rock legend renowned for his poetic working-class lyrics, energetic performances, and Heartland rock music style. He has sold more than 140 million albums globally.

Springsteen was born into a lower class family in Freehold, New Jersey, and he wanted to become a musician after he saw Elvis Presley on “The Ed Sullivan Show” when he was only seven years old. He played music in various Jersey Shore bands until he signed with Columbia Records in 1972.

Where Is Bruce Springsteen From?

Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949, in Long Branch, New Jersey, and spent his youth in Freehold Borough. His father, Doug Springsteen, was unstable and unreliable at work and held various jobs such as bus driver, mill worker, and prison guard. The singer’s mother, Adele, provided more financial stability because she worked as a secretary for a local insurance agency.

Springsteen did not share an easy relationship with his father. In fact, he admitted to having “two things in common when I was a teenager that weren’t particularly popular in my house.” Those two things were himself and his guitar.

Music Career

In the late 1960s, Springsteen was spending most of his time in Asbury Park located on the shores of New Jersey performing with various bands as he developed his distinctive style and brought into the audience the rough baritone voice that would make him famous. One year later, in 1969, he was a part of the band known as Steel Mill, in which he first met the members of what would be known as his E Street Band in the future. At this time, the musician received his popular nickname – “The Boss” because he would gather all the money collected at concerts and give it equally to his colleagues in the band. He performed with Steel Mill for two years in America and recorded three original tracks, exploring various musical genres with the help of other bands.

Breakout with Born to Run

The mid-seventies saw Springsteen collaborating with a music critic named Jon Landau who initially started off as a co-producer for him but eventually became his manager. The singer-songwriter produced his first hit album titled Born to Run in August 1975. It became a great success, having reached number three on the Billboard 200 charts, gaining tremendous praise from listeners and making him an overnight sensation. His single “Born to Run” also became a big hit, reaching within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 album charts. Additionally, Born to Run turned out to be quite a commercial success for Springsteen, earning him 700,000 sales in the United States during that year. That same month in October, the rock star managed to have himself pictured on two separate front covers of Time magazine and Newsweek in the same week.

Born in the U.S.A. and Later Albums

Although The Boss had already established himself as a successful artist, his transition from a celebrated figure to a global star took place with the release of his seventh studio album titled Born in the U.S.A., in June 1984. Dominating the Billboard 200 charts for seven consecutive weeks, the album saw the singer blend his popular upbeat arena rock music style with some darker lyrics. It has often been assumed that the now-famous song, which gave the album its name, is a patriotic one; however, this is wrong because this song was in fact a criticism of the way the government treated Vietnam War veterans after the war ended. “All you have to do is think about all the young men and women who died in Vietnam, and all the people who died since they’ve come back from the war. They came back from the war and didn’t survive,” Springsteen said to Rolling Stone.

Top Songs

From the moment when the song “Born to Run,” which made him famous in 1975, was released, Springsteen continued to give hit after hit. To date, 37 singles of the rock star have managed to get on the Billboard Hot 100, 12 of which were among the top 10 hits. His single “Hungry Heart,” released in 1980, became Springsteen’s first entry into the top 10 hits, getting as high as fifth place. His highest-charting song was “Dancing in the Dark,” released in 1984 and reaching second place. This was followed by songs called “Cover Me” and “Born in the U.S.A.” ranking seventh and ninth on the charts, respectively.

Some other popular songs by Springsteen are “Glory Days,” “I’m on Fire,” “Tunnel of Love,” “My Hometown,” “Brilliant Disguise,” “I’m Goin’ Down,” “War,” and “Streets of Philadelphia.”

Albums