[11][23] He grew up hearing fellow New Jersey singer Frank Sinatra on the radio, and became interested in being a musician by the age of seven after seeing Elvis Presley's performances on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 and 1957.

[22] At age 19, Springsteen was drafted, but failed his physical examination because of a concussion he suffered in a motorcycle accident two years earlier combined with his behavior at induction, both of which reportedly made him unacceptable for military service.

From 1969 through early 1971, Springsteen performed with the band Child, which later changed its name to Steel Mill and included Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, Vinnie Roslin, and later Steven Van Zandt and Robbin Thompson.

"He sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by 'Like a Rolling Stone'", Crawdaddy magazine editor Peter Knobler wrote in a March 1973 profile of Springsteen's that included photographs taken by Ed Gallucci.

"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" and "Incident on 57th Street" became fan favorites, while "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" continues to rank among Springsteen's most beloved concert numbers.

As a regular venue for Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny, and other local national acts, The Stone Pony has since been described as "an integral part of music history for decades.

[59] E Street Band members David Sancious and Ernest Carter departed after "Born to Run" was completed, and were replaced by Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg on piano and drums, respectively.

[100] Between 1976 and 1978, Springsteen provided four compositions to Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, including "The Fever" and "Hearts of Stone", and collaborated on four more with Steven Van Zandt, producer of their first three albums.

[101] In September 1979, Springsteen and the E Street Band joined the Musicians United for Safe Energy anti-nuclear power collective at Madison Square Garden for two nights, playing an abbreviated set while premiering two songs from his upcoming album.

The lyrics in the verses were entirely unambiguous when listened to, but the anthemic music and the title of the song made it hard for many, from politicians to the common person, to get the lyrics—except those in the chorus, which could be read many ways.

Six days after the column's publication, then President Ronald Reagan, in a campaign rally in Hammonton, New Jersey, made brief mention of the song, saying, "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts.

[119] The Born in the U.S.A. period represented the height of Springsteen's visibility in popular culture and the broadest audience he would ever reach (aided by the release of Arthur Baker's dance mixes of three of the singles).

[125][126] In 1992, after risking fan accusations of "going Hollywood" by moving to Los Angeles and working with session musicians, Springsteen released two albums at once: Human Touch and Lucky Town.

The album was inspired by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and by Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass, a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson.

The album was generally less well-received than the thematically similar Nebraska due to the minimal melody, twangy vocals, and political nature of most of the songs; however, some praised it for giving a voice to immigrants and others who rarely have one in American culture.

Kicked off by an early-morning Asbury Park appearance on The Today Show, The Rising Tour commenced; the band barnstormed through a series of single-night arena stands in the U.S. and Europe.

[136] At the ceremony, Springsteen performed the Clash's "London Calling" with Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, and E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and No Doubt's bassist, Tony Kanal, in tribute to Joe Strummer.

[159] His 12-minute 45-second set, with the E Street Band and the Miami Horns, included abbreviated renditions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Born to Run", "Working on a Dream", and "Glory Days", the latter complete with football references in place of the original baseball-themed lyrics.

All first-leg shows in North America included an in-sequence performance of the entire The River album along with other songs from Springsteen's catalog, and all dates were recorded and made available for purchase.

[190] Springsteen supported Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign by performing an acoustic set of "Thunder Road", "Long Walk Home" and "Dancing in the Dark" at a rally in Philadelphia on November 7, 2016.

[191][192] On January 12, 2017, Springsteen and Scialfa performed a special 15-song acoustic set for Barack and Michelle Obama at the White House's East Room two days before the president gave his farewell address to the nation.

[221] On December 13, 2021, Springsteen gave a surprise four song performance at the John Henry's Friends benefit concert for children diagnosed with Autism where he was joined by Steve Earle and the Dukes as his backing band.

"[5] Often described as cinematic in their scope, Springsteen's lyrics frequently explore highly personal themes such as individual commitment, dissatisfaction and dismay with life in a context of everyday situations.

[261] A shift in Springsteen's lyrical approach began with the album Darkness on the Edge of Town,[262] in which he focused on the emotional struggles of working class life,[263][264] alongside more typical rock and roll themes.

Reviewing Born in the U.S.A., Rolling Stone critic Debby Miller noted that "Springsteen ignored the British Invasion and embraced instead the legacy of Phil Spector's releases, the sort of soul that was coming from Atlantic Records, and especially the garage bands that had anomalous radio hits.

[268][269][270] In Forbes, Steve Baltin wrote: "There has never been a live experience in music that captures the feeling of liberation and optimism rock and roll is supposed to bring you more than a Springsteen and the E Street Band show.

[277] In the early 1980s, he met Patti Scialfa at The Stone Pony, a bar and music venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the evening she was performing alongside his friend Bobby Bandiera, with whom she wrote "At Least We Got Shoes" for Southside Johnny.

In a 1995 interview with The Advocate, he told Judy Wieder about the negative publicity the couple subsequently received: "It's a strange society that assumes it has the right to tell people whom they should love and whom they shouldn't.

[150] At one such rally in Ohio, Springsteen discussed the importance of "truth, transparency and integrity in government, the right of every American to have a job, a living wage, to be educated in a decent school, and a life filled with the dignity of work, the promise and the sanctity of home".

"[309] In April 2016, Springsteen cancelled a show in Greensboro, North Carolina, days before it was to take place to protest the state's newly passed Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also referred to as the "bathroom law", which dictates which restrooms transgender people are permitted to use and prevents LGBT citizens from suing over human rights violations in the workplace.