  Bruce Springsteen was born on
September 23, 1949, in New Jersey. By singing
about working class life and American
heartache and touring endlessly, Bruce has
become one of the most respected and
successful musicians in the world. Bruce grew
up in a working-class family in New Jersey.
Bruce fell in love with the rock and roll
sound, but also found out that his father was
not crazy about his rock ambitions. Much of
Bruce's early work reflects his conflicts
with his father, but most especially his
working-class roots. After not finding much
success after high school in New York City,
Bruce played with a string of bands in the
New Jersey area, including the Castiles, the
Togues, Dr. Soom, and the Sonic Boom.
Eventually Bruce hooked up with
a poplar club band called the E-Street Band
(Clarence Clemons, Steve Van Zandt, Danny
Federici, Roy Bittan, Gary Tallent, and Max
Weinberg) and signed with Columbia Records.
 Bruce and the E Street Band
released Greetings
From Asbury Park, N.J. in January and The
Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle in September. The LPs
weren't commercial hits, but gained Bruce
critical attention, and while touring in
Chicago, Bruce and the E-Street Band began to
make a name for themselves and were finding a
following by continuing their live
performances and staying true to rock. Bruce
had become known as the "New
Dylan."
 Bruce made it into the
mainstream music scene after 10 years of
playing local clubs. His LP, Born
To Run released was his first
commercial hit LP and critics applauded his
rock base and strong lyrics. The LP went Top
10 and the title track made the Top 40.
Bruce was hailed as the
"savior of rock and roll. and made the
covers of Time and Newsweek and played live in
bigger venues.
 For the next few years, Bruce
had to battle with his management over his
music. By the time Bruce's next LP, Darkness
On The Edge Of Town, was released Bruce
was competing with "the new wave"
sound and Springsteen-wannabes. The LP was a
modest hit and continued Bruce's ability to
tell stories while giving a rock performance
with "The Promised Land" and
"Badlands."
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone for the first of several times.
 # 78
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce released the #1 LP, The
River, and made it into the Top 10
with "Hungry Heart" and Top 20 with
"Fade Away." Even though the
LP was a double-LP, The
River was a commercial hit.
Bruce hit the Top 40 and Top 10 with "Hungry Heart."
 # 68
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best
Rock Vocal Performance - Male ("Devil With The
Blue Dress / Good Golly Miss Molly / Jenny
Take A Ride").
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
Bruce hit the Top 40 with "Fade Away."
Bruce & The E Street Band
held a benefit concert for Vietnam vets in
L.A.
Bruce was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best
Rock Vocal Performance - Male (The
River).
 Bruce shifted gears with his
music with his solemn LP, Nebraska. The LP's dark tone
confused some fans, gained others, but showed
that Bruce was enough of a superstar that he
could diverge from sure-thing patterns once
in awhile for the sake of art. The LP was a
sharp departure from his usual work, but was
embraced again by critics and Bruce's loyal
fans.
 # 13
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce hit the Top 40 with "Dancing In The Dark."
Bruce hit the Top 10 and #1 for a week with "Dancing In The Dark."
Bruce released his best-selling
LP, Born
In The U.S.A. which eventually sold over 15
million copies in the U.S. The LP spawned 7
Top 10 hits including his #1 hit, "Dancing In The Dark." Bruce also hit
it big with the songs "I'm On
Fire," "Glory Days," "My
Hometown," "I'm Goin' Down,"
"Cover Me," and the title track.
 Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
Bruce's audience stretched
across music tastes and age groups. Born
In The U.S.A. was named the 6th Best
Album of the 80s by Rolling
Stone. The power of the music and the
popularity of the videos kept Bruce on tour
for over 2 years, during which he married
Julianne Phillips (in 1985, divorced in
1989).
 # 5
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce won an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single ("Dancing In The Dark"), and was
nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock
Male Video Artist.
Bruce won a Grammy
Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("Dancing In The Dark"), and was
nominated for Album of the Year (Born
In The U.S.A.) and Record of the Year ("Dancing In The Dark").
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
 The video for "Dancing In The Dark" won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Stage Performance Video, and was nominated for
Best Overall
Performance, and "Glory Days" was
nominated for Best Male Video.
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
 # 48
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce won 3 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Born
In The U.S.A.), and Favorite Pop/Rock Male
Video Artist.
Bruce was nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year ("Born In The
USA").
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
The video for "Glory
Days" was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Overall Performance.
 Bruce's superstar status is
largely due to his live performances. He is
known for playing over 3 hours per show, and
never letting up. He rewarded many of his
fans in 1986 by releasing a 5-LP concert LP
of his many tours over the years: Live
1975-85. The LP debuted at #1 and
although the hype of the set affected later
sales, the LP was considered a must for any
rock music fan.
 # 28
Singles Artist of the Year
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
The live videos for "Born
To Run" and "War" were
nominated for MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Stage Performance Video.
 Bruce released Tunnel
Of Love which contained the Top 10 hits
"Brilliant Disguise," "One
Step Up," and "Tunnel Of
Love." The LP found more popularity with
the VH1 crowd than the MTV crowd, but
continued Bruce's commercial and critical
success. Bruce's lyrics had focused away from
blue-collar life struggles and focused more
on emotional turmoil.
 # 40
Singles Artist of the Year
Bruce won a Grammy
Award for Best Rock Vocal Solo Performance (Tunnel
Of Love) and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male
("Brilliant Disguise") and Best Rock Instrumental
Performance ("Paradise By The
'C'").
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
The video for "Tunnel Of
Love" was nominated for 4 MTV Video Music
Awards for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, and Best Editing, and Best Art Direction.
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
 # 59
Singles Artist of the Year
By 1992, Bruce had toured for a
few years, married Patti Scialfa (a former
singer with the E Street Band, 1991), and
told the E Street Band he was moving on with
other backup performers (in 1989). The
dissolving of the E Street Band was an effort
to expand Bruce's collaborative efforts.
 Bruce simultaneously released Human
Touch and Lucky
Town. The LPs were marginal hits but
were over-shadowed by other up-and-coming
acts.
Bruce hit the Top 40 with "Human Touch."
Bruce topped the Billboard Album
Rock Tracks chart for 3 weeks with "Human Touch."
Bruce hit the Top 10 with "Human Touch."
Bruce performed on MTV
Unplugged and released an LP (In
Concert - MTV Xplugged) of the performance in
Europe the following year (a U.S. release
wasn't available until 1997).
Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
The video for "Human Touch" was nominated
for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Male Video.
Bruce was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best
Rock Vocal Performance - Male and Best Rock Song
(songwriter) ("Human Touch").
Rolling
Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" included
"Atlantic City" at # 37, "Brilliant
Disguise" at # 64, and
"Rosalita" at # 71.
 # 43
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce recorded a song for Philadelphia about a gay man dying
of AIDS: "Streets Of Philadelphia." The song was a
Top 10 hit and won Bruce an Academy Award and
gave the AIDS fight a lyrical voice on the
radio.
Bruce hit the Top 40 with "Streets Of Philadelphia."
Bruce hit the Top 10 with "Streets Of Philadelphia."
The video for "Streets Of Philadelphia" won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Video from a Film and was also nominated
for Best Male Video.
 # 119
Singles Artist of the Year
 Bruce released his Greatest
Hits with a few new tracks with the
E Street Band including "Secret
Garden"
and "Murder Incorporated."
Bruce won 4 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year (songwriter), Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male,
Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion
Picture or for Television, and Best Rock Song (songwriter) ("Streets Of Philadelphia"), and was
nominated for Record of the Year ("Streets Of Philadelphia").
Greatest
Hits topped the Billboard Pop Albums
chart for 2 weeks.
Greatest
Hits topped the UK Albums chart for
2 weeks.
Bruce hit the Top 40 (for the first of 2
chart runs) with "Secret
Garden."
 Bruce returned to his folk roots
with the release of The
Ghost Of Tom Joad. The LP was not a
commercial success but allowed Bruce to play
music he admired and give folk music a boost.
 # 63
Singles Artist of the Year
Rock
'N Roll Hall Of Fame's 500
Songs That Shaped Rock And Roll includes "Born To
Run," "Dancing In The Dark," and
"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)."
 Bruce won a Grammy
Award for Best Contemporary Folk
Album (The
Ghost Of Tom Joad) and was nominated for
Best Male Rock Vocal
Performance ("Dead Man Walkin'")
and Best Music Video, Long Form (Blood
Brothers).
Bruce was on radio airwaves
again when "Secret
Garden"
was used in the movie Jerry
Maguire and hit the Top 40 again.
Bruce hit the Top 10 with "Secret
Garden."
 Bruce's In
Concert - MTV Xplugged was released
in the U.S. Previously, the LP was only
available as an import. The LP was a
collection of 13 songs from Bruce's
appearance on MTV Unplugged - in
which he "plugged in" and played
electric.
Bruce was
nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Video from a Film ("Secret
Garden").
One
Step Up, Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce
Springsteen, a tribute double-LP to Bruce
Springsteen's music by artists such as David
Bowie, Ben E. King, Joe Cocker, and Donna Summer was released.
 Bruce can also be heard on other
compilation LPs and soundtracks including: No
Nukes ("Devil With A Blue Dress
Medley" - 1980), We
Are The World ("Trapped" - 1985), Sun
City (1985), Folkways
- Vision Shared ("I Ain't Got No
Home" and "Vigilante Man" -
1988), For
Our Children ("Chicken Lips And Lizard
Hips" - 1991), A
Tribute To Curtis Mayfield ("Gypsy
Woman" - 1993), and the Dead
Man Walking soundtrack ("Dead
Man Walking" - 1996) for which he
received another Academy Award nomination.
Bruce was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Thunder
Road").
Bruce could be found on Where
Have All The Flowers Gone: The Songs Of Pete
Seger with "We Shall
Overcome."
Ranked # 27 on
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