On this day in 1949, Bruce Springsteen was born
Bruce turns 70 today and shares his birthday with Anthony Mackie and Julio Iglesias.
Bruce Springsteen is an American singer-songwriter who is both a solo artist, and the leader of the E Street Band.
His full name is Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen, and he was born on 23 September 1949 in New Jersey. Growing up, Bruce’s mother was the main breadwinner of the household; his father worked at a few jobs (including as a bus driver) but spent most of the time unemployed so his mother supported him and his two sisters.
He grew up listening to music artists such as Frank Sinatra, but became interested in music at the age of seven, when he saw Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show. After seeing Elvis on the show, Bruce’s mother rented him a guitar for $6 a week and in high school, he became known as ‘the loner who does nothing but play his guitar.’
Although he was conscripted into the US Army at the age of 19, a motorcycle accident from when he was 17 (which caused a concussion) as well as his ‘crazy’ behaviour at induction, made him ineligible for service.
He bought his first guitar after another Ed Sullivan Show appearance by the Beatles in 1964 and went on to play at local venues. Seeing his passion, Springsteen’s mother took out a loan during that same year to buy him a $60 Kent guitar. After a lot of practice and memorising songs, in 1965 Bruce went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard who sponsored local bands. They helped him become part of a band called the Castiles, where he played lead guitar and was one of the lead vocalists.
He performed in several other bands before forming a new, unnamed band in 1972. The band was named the E Street Band in 1974. In 1975, his album Born To Run was released, reaching number three on the Billboard 200 and earning him critical acclaim.
Since then, Springsteen has sold over 65 million albums in the United States alone (135 million worldwide) and won numerous awards, including 20 Grammys.
He has become one of the most successful music acts in the world, but is also known for the political causes he takes part in. In 2016, Bruce was honoured with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.
He shares his birthday with Anthony Mackie and Julio Iglesias.
