NEW YORK—“The Boss,” was “Born to Run” and “Born in the USA,” but was also born today, 60 years ago.
Bruce Springsteen marked the anniversary of his birth today, and for a musician of Springsteen’s caliber and continued achievements, that milestone is a bit hard to believe.
The American singer and songwriter, who tours with the E Street Band, popularized the “heartland rock” genre of music has a extremely large following—he has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, with more than half of those in the United States.
Born in Long Branch, Springsteen grew up playing in clubs across New Jersey. He started building a following in the late 1960s, and signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1972.
But it was in the mid—and late—1970s that Springsteen really made a breakthrough. His album “Born to Run” - which would be one of his biggest releases of all time—was released on August 25, 1975, and radio stations all across the country started playing songs from the album, such as “Born to Run” and “Thunder Road.”
In late October of that year, Bruce Springsteen appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazine, sealing his fate and stardom success.
In 1980, Bruce Springsteen hit the Top Ten single charts for the first time with “Hungry Heart”, a single from his 20-song double album “The River”.
In 1984, Springsteen released what would become his best selling album of all time—“Born in the U.S.A”. The album sold 15 million copies in the United States alone. Seven singles from “Born in the U.S.A.” hit the top ten singles charts.
Springsteen went through several ups and downs after “Born in the U.S.A.” and these were reflected in his musical and personal life. After a short-lived marriage with actress Julianne Phillips, Springsteen remarried in 1991. His second wife, Patti Scialfa, was a backup singer in the E Street Band, which Springsteen had performed with since 1975.
From 1987 to 2002, Bruce Springsteen released 4 albums, among which “Tunnel of Love” and “Human Touch” hit number 1 and 2 on the Billboard charts respectively.
Springsteen returned to the mainstream in 2002—after a seven-year hiatus—to release 5 albums. Four of those albums - “The Rising” (2002) and “Devils & Dust” (2005), “Magic” (2007) and “Working on a Dream” (2009) - made it to the top of the Billboard charts.
Springsteen has won nineteen Grammy awards in addition to two Golden Globe awards and an Academy Award.
[etDetailsBox Bruce Springsteen Hits]
1975: Born to Run
1984: Born in the U.S.A.
1987: Tunnel of Love
1992: Human Touch
2002: The Rising
2005: Devils & Dust
2007: Magic
2009: Working on a Dream
[/etDetailsBox]
