In 2023 Bruce Springsteen was forced to postpone his tour with the E Street Band due to a bout with peptic ulcer disease, but he didn’t stay away from the stage for long. The Boss returned to the road in April 2024, kicking off his rescheduled tour in Phoenix, and then spent a good portion of the year touring, with the trek hitting both the U.S. and Europe.
He did have to postpone a few shows in Europe due to vocal issues, but that just led to him announcing another tour of Europe next summer.
But that was only one of the many Springsteen-related highlights this year. Among the others:
– In early January it was reported that a movie about the making of Springsteen’s 1982 album, Nebraska, was in the works. Deliver Us From Nowhere will be based on the Warren Zanes book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, with The Bear star Jeremy Allen White cast to play The Boss. The film, directed by Scott Cooper, is currently in production.
– In the middle of his tour, Springsteen flew across country from San Diego to Brooklyn to join Zach Bryan on stage for two songs, including “Sandpiper,” a collaboration between the two that appeared on Zach’s album The Great American Bar Scene. Springsteen also showed up at Bryan’s Philadelphia concert in August, where they performed “Sandpiper” and Bruce’s “Atlantic City.”
– Springsteen made a guest appearance on the HBO Max comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, in an episode in which star Larry David gives him COVID-19.
– The Boss was chosen as the next Academy Fellow of The Ivors Academy, the U.K. organization that presents The Ivor Novello Awards, which celebrate excellence in British and Irish songwriting. He became the first international songwriter to earn a fellowship, which is the highest honor handed out by the Ivors.
– In June, Bruce celebrated the 40th anniversary of his iconic album Born in the U.S.A., which spent seven weeks at #1 in 1984. As part of the celebration he released an anniversary edition of the album on translucent red vinyl.
– In July, Forbes magazine claimed Bruce was now a billionaire, although he later denied the report.
– Springsteen brought his live show home, headlining the Sea. Hear. Now festival in his old stomping ground of Asbury Park, New Jersey. He popped in during sets by fellow New Jersey natives Gaslight Anthem, as well as the Trey Anastasio Band, with his headlining set filled with songs from the early days of his career.
– He appeared on the tribute album for longtime New York City punk fixture Jesse Malin, called Silver Patron Saints, contributing the song “She Don’t Love Me Now” featuring Jesse’s band and E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons.
– Bruce wrapped the year by giving fans a peek behind the scenes at his live show with the Hulu documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. In the doc, Bruce’s wife, Patti Scialfa, revealed that in 2018 she was diagnosed multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, which has made it hard for her to perform and is why she wasn’t on tour with him.
– And if all of that wasn’t enough, The Boss also turned 75 in September.
Bruce’s bandmate Stevie Van Zandt also had a great year. Not only were he and and his brother — playwright, actor and director Billy Van Zandt — honored with a street named after them in their hometown of Middletown, New Jersey, Stevie was featured in his very own documentary. Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and debuted on Max in June. The film also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Music Film.
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