On September 23, 1949, Bruce Springsteen was born in Long Branch; he grew up in nearby Freehold. Bruce played the bar circuit in and around Asbury Park while assembling his famous E Street Band. His breakout 1975 record, Born to Run, united arena rock with human-size tales of working-class America. With dozens of awards under his belt, including 20 Grammys, and more than 65 million albums sold in the U.S. alone, Springsteen is one of the most successful musicians of all time. Also known for his left-leaning political causes, the artist was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2016.
Bruce Springsteen Celebrates His 35th Birthday in Pittsburgh
On September 22, 1984, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed for 3 ½ hours before a sold-out crowd at the old Pittsburgh Civic Arena. The following day, he celebrated his 35th birthday at the Duquesne Club, a private membership social club in Pittsburgh.
The band was touring in support of its smash hit record, “Born in the USA,” and as usual, the set lists included a blend of the newly released songs along with his old hits, and some cover tunes such as the Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man.
“This is a song about old times – and the older you get the more old times you have,” said Springsteen, while introducing his song Glory Days.
Bruce Springsteen Celebrates His 36th Birthday in Denver
On September 23, 1985, Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 36th birthday onstage at Mile High Stadium in Denver, touring in support of his smash hit record, Born in the USA. The band and 60,000 fans rocked the night for four hours in below-freezing temperatures, with Bruce having cancelled the previous night’s concert over weather concerns.
The city of Denver was sufficiently excited about the prospects of hosting legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen on his birthday that the mayor officiated over the creation of a door-sized birthday card for the occasion.
For his first encore during his birthday performance at Mile High Stadium, Bruce Springsteen introduced what he called “the greatest song ever written in this country,” and that “I’m not sure this song is true anymore but it ought to be,” and he went on to sing all of the verses of Woody Guthrie’s iconic “This Land is Your Land.” Bruce finished saying, “I’d like to thank you for spending my birthday with me…it’s been a nice birthday party.”
Sources:
https://www.biography.com/musician/bruce-springsteen
Bishop, Pete. (1984). ‘I’m a rocker.’ The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Penn., September 22, 1984, P. 15.
DeBruin, Courtney. (1985). Glory Night. The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, Colo., September 24, 1985.
Rubin, M. McDevitt. (1986). Divine Dessert. The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Penn., July 30, 1986, P. C2.
Featured image: Photo of Bruce Springsteen accepting Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Official White House photograph, public domain.
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