Bruce Springsteen
“Freehold, the E Street city, and a forty-year argument with a misheard chorus.”
In 1984, Bruce Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A., which spawned a record-tying seven Top 10 singles and became his most commercially successful album. The blockbuster turned the New Jersey rocker into a stadium-filling global icon. It defined the heartland-rock sound of the decade.
Jersey Shore Origins
Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1949, Bruce Springsteen grew up in working-class Freehold. He honed his craft in Jersey Shore bars before signing with Columbia Records in the early 1970s.
The Boss Breaks Through
Born to Run in 1975 earned him critical acclaim, but Born in the U.S.A. in 1984 made him a global superstar. His marathon concerts with the E Street Band became legendary.
Enduring Working-Class Voice
Springsteen built his reputation chronicling everyday American life with songs of struggle and hope. Decades later he remains a vital live performer and a respected elder statesman of rock.
Career Timeline
- 1949Born in Long Branch. Raised in Freehold.
- 1975Born to Run.
- 1982Nebraska, a cassette that became the album.
- 1984Born in the U.S.A. The mishearing begins.
- 2016The memoir.
- 2017Springsteen on Broadway.
Biggest Hits
- Many listeners mistook Born in the U.S.A. for a patriotic anthem, though it is a bitter critique of how Vietnam veterans were treated.
- His backing E Street Band has accompanied him since 1972, one of the longest-running partnerships in rock.
Portrait: Bill Ebbesen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons