Bruce Frederick Joseph (Bruce) Springsteen   [1949]

Stage and Screen Performer

Bruce Springsteen - Roskilde Festival 2012.jpg

 

The two songs that define Bruce Springsteen for the masses are "Born to Run" and "Born in the U.S.A.". Especially the latter song became so popular for a while it surpassed the national anthem as the symbol of the country. Even Ronald Regan during his campaign adopted it as a way to define his campaign, much to the chagrin of Springsteen himself because Springsteen was not a Regan supporter. "Born to Run" and "Born in the U.S.A." go back to the early part of Springsteen's career during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s, other best known songs are "Dancing in the Dark" and "Tunnel of Love". "Streets of Philadelphia" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad" were the 1990s standouts. Since the turn of the century, Springsteen has remained very active with such well known songs as "The "Rising", Disorder in the House", "Code of Silence" and "Devils of Dust". The last one was released in 2005.

Springsteen is inextricably linked with the E Street Band. Although, Springsteen is known as an individual entertainer, his performances are often solo but more commonly part of the E Street Band performance. The E Street Band goes back to 1972 and except for a dormant period from 1988 to 1999, the band has continued to perform to this day. Although the band has as many as nine performers playing a variety of instruments, Springsteen is the main performer doing all lead vocals, most lead guitar parts, harmonica, and occasional piano. It is no wonder than that Springsteen has the nickname of the Boss, a designation he did not always like but now apparently accepts.

Springsteen grew up in a lower middle class family and to this day he is considered the musician for the ordinary people, the man who finds grandeur in the problems of everyday life. His lyrics often concern people who are trying to make ends meet. He also became strongly associated with the September 11 attacks as reflected in his immensely popular song "The Rising". Earlier he was a supporter of the movement to help the Vietnam War veterans, his own contemporaries. He is progressive in his politics and this clearly prevented him from getting a Congressional recognition proposed by New Jersey Senators John Lautenberg and John Corzine in November 2005. They sponsored a Senate resolution to honor Springsteen on the 30th anniversary of the release of Springsteen's "Born to Run" album. These types of resolutions are commonly approved by voice vote, but for unstated reasons it was killed in committee.

During his entire career Springsteen earned a number of awards and recognitions. The most valuable one was the Academy Award for Best Song won in 1993 for "Streets in Philadelphia". Springsteen and the E Street Band won an Emmy Award for an HBO Special, "Live in New York" in 2001. Also during the period from 1984 to 2005 Springsteen won 13 Grammy Awards for the various songs discussed above. Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.

Bruce Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on September 23, 1949. His father, Douglas Springsteen, was a bus driver of Dutch and Irish ancestry and his mother, Adele Zirilli Springsteen was a secretary with an Italian-American background. The family moved to Freehold Borough, New Jersey where Bruce grew up. At age 13 he bought his first guitar for $18. At age 16 his mother saw his potential and borrowed money to buy him a $60 Kent guitar, an event he memorializes with the song "The Wish". He began to perform in 1969 and for the next two years with his three band mates, two of whom are still in the E Street Band today, performed in the region surrounding the area where they lived. He began his recording career with the E street Band in 1973 and signed a solo record deal with Columbia Records in 1972. The rest is history.

Springsteen married Julianne Phillips, an actress, in 1985. The couple divorced in 1989. In 1991 he married Patti Scialfa who was and still is a member of the E Street Band. They have three children, Evan James Springsteen, born in 1990, Jessica Rae Springsteen, born in 1991, and Sam Springsteen, born in 1994.

 

REFERENCES

Sing365.com

Essortment.com

NNDB, Tracking the World

 

E-BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON; GOOGLE: Kindle Store Pegels

 

PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICANS, CURRENT AND HISTORIC

EIGHT PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICAN FAMILIES: THE ROOSEVELTS, VANDERBILTS AND OTHERS, 2015

FIFTEEN PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICAN FAMILIES: THE VAN BURENS, KOCH BROTHERS, VOORHEES AND OTHERS, 2015

PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICANS IN U.S. GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, 2015

 

DUTCH PEGELS INVOLVED IN WARS

ALLIED EUROPE CAMPAIGN—1944/1945: TACTICAL MISTAKES, 2017

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE NETHERLANDS: MEMOIRS, 2017

FRENCH REVOLUTION, NAPOLEON AND RUSSIAN WAR OF 1812, 2015

Wikipedia

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