Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is one of the most well-known American musicians of our time. His songs, famous for lyrics devoted to the struggles of daily life, are often described as «heartland rock». Springsteen has sold over 120 million albums worldwide, including 65 million in the U.S, and earned numerous awards for his work – eighteen Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award and much more. He is also noted for supporting various charity organizations.

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, near New Jersey. He decided to become a musician at the age of seven after seeing one of the Elvis Presley’s performances. At 13, he learned to play guitar, and at 16 he was already a frontman of the band known as The Castiles. In late 1960-s he started to perform in clubs in New Jersey as part of the trio Earth. At this time he got his famous nickname «The Boss» because he was on the task of collecting the band's pay and distributing it among his bandmates. Springsteen himself never liked this name. Bruce Springsteen signed his first album contract in 1972. He called upon many of his friends, they formed E Street Band and recorded album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973). It featured folk rock-rooted music and intricate lyrics, so Springsteen was compared to Bob Dylan. Record got critical acclaim but no commercial success, as long as the second album The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973).

Next record Born To Run became Springsteen’s last chance to release a commercially successfull album. After 14 month of work spent on it, Born To Run received massive acclaim and made E Street Band popular. But then a legal battle with former manager Mike Appel kept Springsteen out of the studio for over several years, so next album Darkness On The Edge Of Town was released only five years later. It was much different from Springsteen’s previous works – music became more fluent and refined, while lyrics were telling about social and political problems. Next record, double album The River (1980), was made in the same manner and devoted to working-class life. The River was followed by the acoustic album Nebraska (1982) that Springsteen recorded solo, without E Street Band. It is said that U2’s disk The Joshua Tree was inspired by this record.

Following album Born In The U.S.A. (1984) became Bruce Springsteen’s most successfull record to date, selling 15 million copies in the U.S. alone. The title track, which was telling the bitter story about the treatment of Vietnam veterans (based on the real stories of some Springsteen’s friends), is still one of the most controversial songs in America. Springsteen himself turned down several million dollars offered by Chrysler Corporation for using the song in a car commercial. Next album Tunnel Of Love (1987) was far more sedate and less social-themed. This «social» period of career ended for Springsteen after dissolving E Street Band in 1989. In 1992 Bruce Springsteen moved to Los Angeles and released two albums at once – Human Touch and Lucky Town. Both of them were telling about his inner feelings. In 1994 Springsteen received his only Academy Award for the song Streets Of Philadelphia which was used in a movie Philadelphia. Next year Springsteen recorded new album The Ghost Of Tom Joad, inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Dale Maharidge’s book Journey To Nowhere.

Springsteen reunited with E Street Band in 2000 for a huge tour and new album The Rising (2002). The album, mostly a reflection on the September 11 attacks, was a critical and popular success. Next album, acoustic record Devils & Dust (2005), featured songs written almost ten years earlier. It was followed by folk album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006). Next disk Magic (2007) was also very successful. At the same time, Springsteen took hands on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Springsteen’s sixteenth studio album Working On A Dream was released in the end of January 2009. In 2010 the singer’s discography was enlarged by wonderful compilation album The Collection 1973-1984. That record included one of the best Bruce’s songs that had been time-honored and deserved the title of rock music classics. There is no doubt that this compilation album turned out to be a great present for the legendary musician’s fans.