Bruce Springsteen

Born in Long Branch and raised in Freehold, New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen established himself in the early 1970s with a rock songwriting rooted in America's East Coast tradition, blending folk rock, heartland rock and rhythm and blues. After the albums Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle in 1973, he expanded his audience with Born to Run (1975), then moved to a tighter, more direct sound on Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980). With Nebraska (1982) Springsteen explored a spare, acoustic approach, before taking a broader turn with Born in the U.S.A. (1984) alongside the E Street Band, the group that has accompanied much of his career since 1972. He subsequently alternated between band records and more personal projects, from Tunnel of Love (1987) to The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995), and then The Rising (2002), written in the aftermath of 9/11. Later releases include Devils & Dust (2005), We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), Magic (2007), Wrecking Ball (2012), Western Stars (2019), Letter to You (2020) and Only the Strong Survive (2022). His repertoire rests on narrative rock—precise and closely linked to themes of work, the road, family and America’s social fractures.