Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock, a genre combining mainstream rock music with poetic and socially conscious lyrics that feature narratives primarily concerning working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours.
Springsteen in 2012
Springsteen attended Freehold High School in Freehold Borough, New Jersey, where a former teacher described him as a "loner who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar". He graduated in 1967, but felt so alienated that he skipped his graduation ceremony.
The Stone Pony, a live music club and bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where Springsteen and other E Street Band members played regularly in the 1970s; in the early 1980s; Springsteen met his second and current wife Patti Scialfa at The Stone Pony.
Springsteen and the E Street Band in February 1977
The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing career, the band included guitarists Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, and Patti Scialfa, keyboardists Danny Federici and Roy Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent, drummer Max Weinberg, and saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the end of a performance in 2009
Garry W. Tallent
Roy Bittan
Patti Scialfa performs with the E Street Band, Hartford Civic Center, October 2, 2007
