NEW YORK — Bruce Springsteen sat around talking about glory days with Howard Stern Monday in his first-ever appearance on the shock jock’s radio show.
“You know what? I’m star struck,” Stern confessed at start of the interview, the first he’s done out of his Midtown studio at SiriusXM since the start of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020.
The chat ran the gamut from the “Glory Days” singer’s humble start on the Jersey Shore to a White House performance that led to a Broadway show he would perform more than 260 times. Springsteen — encouraged by Stern — also paid tribute to himself as a guitarist.
“I’m a good guitar player,” The Boss said. “My guitar playing is underrated as a matter of fact.”
The Boss played bits from songs including “Born to Run” and “Rosalita” Monday, making use of both a piano and guitar, and talked about hits like “Blinded by the Light.”
Stern mentioned 1980s supergroup The Traveling Wilburys — which consisted of Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne — and asked Springsteen if he would participate in something like that. Springsteen cited John Fogerty, Tom Morello and Neil Young as musicians who come to mind when he envisions such a project.
Despite his image as a working class hero, the 73-year-old rock star confessed that he doesn’t wake up every day wanting to write new music.
“I don’t have something to say everyday,” he admitted. “Years will go by with nothing.”
Springsteen and the E Street Band last toured in 2017, but will hit the road again in February for a string of shows that’ll include April stops in Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center, UBS Arena on Long Island and the Prudential Center in Newark.
Playing loud music has come at a cost for Springsteen. “It’s bad,” he confessed when asked about his hearing. “I use hearing aids.”
But according to The Boss, things could be much worse.
“I like my heroes old and fat and living forever,” he said. “The rock and roll death cult was a romantic idea but it’s bulls--- when it comes down to living.”
Springsteen recalled telling bandmate Steven Van Zandt that they were in the right place at the right time at the start of their careers.
“Look, we’re old men,” he says he told Van Zandt. “But we came up in a golden age doing what we did.”
When his daughter recently played a Taylor Swift album for Springsteen, he said it made him optimistic for the future of music. “It was good,” Springsteen said of Swift’s music. “She’s super talented.”
“What a morning,” Stern said at the end of his “incredible” interview with Springsteen. “My head is spinning.”
But both men — who said they’re each supporting their 90-something-year-old mothers — admitted that after their two-hour conversation, they really needed to use the bathroom.
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