Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949, in Freehold, New Jersey, and began his music career in the mid-1960s as lead guitarist and later singer for the band The Castiles. By 1969-1972, he played with groups like Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom, Sundance Blues Band, and the Bruce Springsteen Band, gaining attention from Columbia Records after auditioning in 1972. His debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973), was followed by The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973), setting the stage for his formation of the E Street Band. His third album, Born to Run (1975), marked a breakthrough, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, going seven times platinum in the US, and earning him simultaneous Time and Newsweek covers—a first for any musician. After a legal battle with manager Mike Appel, he released Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), solidifying his reputation. The 1984 album Born in the U.S.A. became his best-seller with over 30 million copies worldwide, featuring hits like 'Dancing in the Dark' and the title track. In the 1990s, Springsteen explored folk rock with Nebraska (1982, though released earlier in his acoustic phase) and The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995), winning his first album Grammy for the latter in 1997. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and reunited with the E Street Band for The Rising (2002), which won Best Rock Album Grammy. Later works include Devils & Dust (2005), Magic (2007), Wrecking Ball (2012), and Springsteen on Broadway (2017), a solo residency earning a Special Tony Award. He received the Kennedy Center Honors (2009), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016), and National Medal of Arts (2023).