He also made cameo appearances in several TV series, including Diff'rent Strokes, Nash Bridges, The Simpsons, My Wife and Kids and The Wire.

Clemons published Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (2009) with his friend Don Reo.

His grandfather was a Baptist preacher and, as a result, the young Clemons grew up in a very religious environment listening to gospel music.

At 6' 4" and 240 pounds,[5] he played as a lineman on the same team as Art Shell and Emerson Boozer and attracted the attention of the Cleveland Browns, who offered him a trial.

[11] At age 18, Clemons had one of his earliest studio experiences, recording sessions with Tyrone Ashley's Funky Music Machine, a band from Plainfield, New Jersey, that included Ray Davis, Eddie Hazel and Billy Bass Nelson, all of whom later played with Parliament-Funkadelic.

[12][13] While at Maryland State College, Clemons also joined his first band, the Vibratones, which played James Brown covers and stayed together for about four years between 1961 and 1965.

While still playing with this band, he moved to Somerset, New Jersey, where he worked as a counselor for children at the Jamesburg Training School for Boys, a youth detention center, between 1962 and 1970.

I'd heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there.

Norman Seldin had managed and promoted several local bands, including The Motifs[19] who featured Vinnie Roslin, later to play with Springsteen in Steel Mill.

When Springsteen then decided to use a tenor saxophone on the songs "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night", he called Clemons.

By October Springsteen was ready to tour and promote Greetings… and he put together a band featuring Clemons, Tallent, Danny Federici and Vini Lopez.

Clemons played his last gig with Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze at the Club Plaza in Bayville, New Jersey, on October 21, 1972.

Four days later Clemons made his debut with the formative E Street Band at an unadvertised, impromptu performance at The Shipbottom Lounge.

[25] On Born to Run he provided memorable saxophone solos on the title track, "Thunder Road", "She's the One", "Night" and "Jungleland".

The River saw Clemons featured on songs such as "The Ties That Bind", "Sherry Darling", "I Wanna Marry You", "Drive All Night" and "Independence Day" while Born in the U.S.A. saw solos on "Bobby Jean" and "I'm Goin' Down".

He toured in the first incarnation of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in 1989, singing "You're a Friend of Mine" (dueting with Billy Preston) and an updated rap arrangement of "Quarter to Three."

Clemons collaborated with Lady Gaga on the songs "Hair" and "The Edge of Glory" from her album Born This Way, providing a saxophone track and solo.

[32] In April 2011, Clemons sat in on several tunes with the Grateful Dead "spinoff" band Furthur during a concert in Boca Raton, Florida.

[34] He played the role of Jack in Swing starring opposite Lisa Stansfield and Hugo Speer, directed by Nick Mead.

He appeared in the episode "Michael's Band" of Damon Wayans' television show My Wife and Kids as a musician, and performed "One Shadow In The Sun", an original composition co-written with bassist Lynn Woolever.

[33] Clemons published Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (2009) with his friend Don Reo.

[45] While initial signs had been hopeful after his hospitalization and two subsequent brain surgeries, his condition worsened later in the week, and he died on June 18[46][47] at age 69.

[48] Upon announcement of his death, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered state flags to be lowered to half staff in his honor.

During a subsequent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Vedder played a ukulele with "Clarence" written across the front of it.

[56][57] Jimmy Buffett added verses that included Clemons in "The Stories We Could Tell" during his final encore during his concert on June 21, 2011.

[58] During the Gaslight Anthem's set at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, frontman Brian Fallon dedicated their song "The '59 Sound" to Clemons.

[62] On October 1, 2011, a tribute to Clemons took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

[63][64] In January 2012, Clemons' hometown paid tribute with memorial concerts featuring members of the E Street Band.