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179-469: Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band . Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock , combining a commercially successful rock sound with poetic and socially conscious lyrics reflecting

358-500: A "very active spiritual life" but joked that this "made it very difficult sexually" and added "once a Catholic, always a Catholic". 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. Soon after, his mother rented him a guitar from Mike Diehl's Music in Freehold for $ 6

537-514: A certain degree doesn't care if it's popular. — Bill Wyman in Vulture (2016) The sound of rock is traditionally centered on the amplified electric guitar, which emerged in its modern form in the 1950s with the popularity of rock and roll. It was also greatly influenced by the sounds of electric blues guitarists. The sound of an electric guitar in rock music is typically supported by an electric bass guitar, which pioneered jazz music in

716-472: A cult following. In his January 1970 review of Steel Mill's show at The Matrix , music critic Philip Elwood wrote in the San Francisco Examiner that he had "never been so overwhelmed by a totally unknown talent" and called Steel Mill "the first big thing that's happened to Asbury Park since the good ship Morro Castle burned to the waterline of that Jersey beach in '34". Elwood praised

895-415: A five-record box set (also on three cassettes or three CDs), was released near the end of 1986 and became the first box set to debut at No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. It is one of the most commercially successful live albums of all time, ultimately selling 13 million units in the U.S. During the 1980s, several Springsteen fanzines were launched, including Backstreets magazine. Springsteen released

1074-519: A fondness for a good beat, a meaningful lyric with some wit, and the theme of youth, which holds an "eternal attraction" so objective "that all youth music partakes of sociology and the field report ." Writing in Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), he said this sensibility is evident in the music of folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked , rapper LL Cool J , and synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys —"all kids working out their identities"—as much as it

1253-481: A foundation of simple syncopated rhythms in a 4 meter , with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies often originate from older musical modes such as the Dorian and Mixolydian , as well as major and minor modes. Harmonies range from the common triad to parallel perfect fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Since the late 1950s, and particularly from

1432-628: A frequent addition to the established rock format of guitars, bass, and drums in subsequent progressive rock. Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy and science fiction. The Pretty Things ' SF Sorrow (1968), the Kinks' Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969), and the Who 's Tommy (1969) introduced

1611-630: A key feature of psychedelia. Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. 1967 saw the Beatles release their definitive psychedelic statement in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , including the controversial track " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ", the Rolling Stones responded later that year with Their Satanic Majesties Request , and Pink Floyd debuted with The Piper at

1790-531: A legal secretary and was the family's main breadwinner. He is of Dutch, Irish, and Italian descent, and grew up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey . Springsteen's paternal ancestors were among the early Dutch families who, in the 17th century, settled in colonial-era America , then part of the Dutch Republic known as New Netherland . Springsteen's paternal ancestor, John Springsteen, was a patriot in

1969-671: A loan to buy him a $ 60 Kent guitar, an act he later memorialized in his song "The Wish". In 1965, he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town. They helped him become the lead guitarist and subsequently one of the lead singers of the Castiles , a band that recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township and played a variety of venues, including Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village . Marion Vinyard said she believed

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2148-573: A loud amplified sound, often centered on the electric guitar, based on the Chicago blues , particularly after the tour of Britain by Muddy Waters in 1958, which prompted Cyril Davies and guitarist Alexis Korner to form the band Blues Incorporated . The band involved and inspired many of the figures of the subsequent British blues boom, including members of the Rolling Stones and Cream , combining blues standards and forms with rock instrumentation and emphasis. The other key focus for British blues

2327-587: A mainstream audience with hits including " Blowin' in the Wind " (1963) and " Masters of War " (1963), which brought " protest songs " to a wider public, but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences. Early attempts to combine elements of folk and rock included the Animals' " House of the Rising Sun " (1964), which

2506-495: A major element of progressive rock. From about 1967 bands like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience had moved away from purely blues-based music into psychedelia . By the 1970s, blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple , and the lines between blues rock and hard rock "were barely visible", as bands began recording rock-style albums. The genre

2685-606: A major influence on generations of songwriters. Named for the former President of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award is given to individuals or teams who are recognized as having done a great deal to further the successes of songwriters. Abe Olman was an American songwriter and music publisher. He was later director of ASCAP, and a founder of the Songwriters Hall of Fame which, in 1983, named

2864-429: A major influence on subsequent electronic rock . With the advent of punk rock and technological changes in the late 1970s, progressive rock was increasingly dismissed as pretentious and overblown. Many bands broke up, but some, including Genesis, ELP, Yes, and Pink Floyd, regularly scored top ten albums with successful accompanying worldwide tours. Some bands which emerged in the aftermath of punk, such as Siouxsie and

3043-410: A more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly blues, country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock. In 1966 Bob Dylan went to Nashville to record the album Blonde on Blonde . This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, such as Nashville Skyline , have been seen as creating the genre of country folk ,

3222-486: A multibillion-dollar industry and doubling its market while, as Christgau noted, suffering a significant "loss of cultural prestige". "Maybe the Bee Gees became more popular than the Beatles, but they were never more popular than Jesus ", he said. "Insofar as the music retained any mythic power, the myth was self-referential – there were lots of songs about the rock and roll life but very few about how rock could change

3401-589: A national phenomenon. It is often argued that the surf music craze and the careers of almost all surf acts was effectively ended by the arrival of the British Invasion from 1964, because most surf music hits were recorded and released between 1960 and 1965. By the end of 1962, what would become the British rock scene had started with beat groups like the Beatles , Gerry & the Pacemakers and

3580-455: A new "all-in songwriter" — an exceptionally talented and inspired young musician/singer/songwriter whose work exhibits the qualities of Holly's music: true, great and original. The Holly Prize is administered and juried by the SongHall. Announced in 2011, along with a collaboration between the Songwriters Hall of Fame and NYU Steinhardt's Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions,

3759-459: A preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of the payola scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the rock and roll era established at that point had come to an end. Rock quickly spread out from its origins in the US, associated with the rapid Americanization that

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3938-489: A prerecorded instrumental track. This technique was developed on the " Brilliant Disguise " video. In 1995, after temporarily re-organizing the E Street Band for a few new songs recorded for his first Greatest Hits album (a recording session that was chronicled in the documentary Blood Brothers ), and also one show at Tramps in New York City, he released his second folk album, The Ghost of Tom Joad . The album

4117-444: A prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, heralding the era of pomp or arena rock , which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economical rock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s. The instrumental strand of the genre resulted in albums like Mike Oldfield 's Tubular Bells (1973),

4296-528: A range of different styles from the mid-1960s, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the genres of blues , rhythm and blues , and country music . Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk , and incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock

4475-634: A reflection on the September 11 attacks , was a critical and popular success. The title track gained airplay in several radio formats, and the record became Springsteen's best-selling album of new material in 15 years. 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. Springsteen played an unprecedented 10 nights at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The Rising won

4654-527: 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." After seeing Springsteen's performance at the Harvard Square Theater, music critic Jon Landau wrote in the May 22, 1974, issue of Boston 's The Real Paper that, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name

4833-446: A rigidly delineated musical definition." In the opinion of music journalist Robert Christgau , "the best rock jolts folk-art virtues—directness, utility, natural audience—into the present with shots of modern technology and modernist dissociation ". Rock and roll was conceived as an outlet for adolescent yearnings ... To make rock and roll is also an ideal way to explore intersections of sex, love, violence, and fun, to broadcast

5012-625: A rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. By the late 1960s " classic rock " period, a few distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock , folk rock , country rock , Southern rock , raga rock , and jazz rock , which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock , influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene . New genres that emerged included progressive rock , which extended artistic elements, heavy metal , which emphasized an aggressive thick sound, and glam rock , which highlighted showmanship and visual style. In

5191-721: A route pursued by a number of largely acoustic folk musicians. Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend were the Canadian group the Band and the California-based Creedence Clearwater Revival , both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder , Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George , and influenced

5370-472: A significant impact in the music industry via their original songs. The Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award is given to musical artists who have had a substantial number of hit songs across a lengthy career, and who, according to the Hall of Fame, "recognize the importance of songs and their writers". The Johnny Mercer Award is the highest honor bestowed by the event. It goes to writers already inducted into

5549-481: A slogan one only began to hear in 1972 or so, mobilized all those eager to believe that idealism had become passe, and once they were mobilized, it had. In popular music, embracing the '70s meant both an elitist withdrawal from the messy concert and counterculture scene and a profiteering pursuit of the lowest common denominator in FM radio and album rock . Rock saw greater commodification during this decade, turning into

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5728-470: A thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire—New Jersey's own, Bruce Springsteen." Two nights later, at a concert in Pittsburgh , Springsteen told the crowd, "Well, the president was mentioning my name in his speech the other day and I kind of got to wondering what his favorite album of mine must've been, you know? I don't think it

5907-464: A variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to develop country rock . However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on the development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song, and concepts of "authenticity". Psychedelic music's LSD -inspired vibe began in

6086-529: A variety of sources such as the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music , and rhythm and blues . Christgau characterizes rock lyrics as a "cool medium" with simple diction and repeated refrains, and asserts that rock's primary "function" "pertains to music, or, more generally, noise ." The predominance of white, male, and often middle class musicians in rock music has often been noted, and rock has been seen as an appropriation of Black musical forms for

6265-528: A voice to immigrants and others who rarely have one in American culture. The lengthy, worldwide, small-venue solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour that followed presented many of his older songs in drastically reshaped acoustic form, although Springsteen had to explicitly remind his audiences to "shut the fuck up" and not to clap during the performances. Following that tour, Springsteen moved from California back to New Jersey with his family. In 1998, he released

6444-462: A week, but it failed to provide him with the instant gratification he desired. In ninth grade, Springsteen entered Freehold High School , a public high school, but did not fit in there either. A former teacher said Springsteen was a "loner who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar". He graduated in 1967, but felt so alienated that he skipped his graduation ceremony. He briefly attended Ocean County College , but dropped out. At age 19, Springsteen

6623-653: A whole world of possibilities. —Springsteen on the impact of the Beatles 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 . Steel Mill performed at various Jersey Shore venues and also outside of New Jersey, in Richmond, Virginia , Nashville, Tennessee , and California , and gathered

6802-552: A year. Highlights included a record sold-out, 15-show run at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and a ten-night, sold-out engagement at New York City's Madison Square Garden. A new song played at these shows, " American Skin (41 Shots) " (about the police shooting of Amadou Diallo ), proved controversial. In 2002, Springsteen released his first studio effort with the full band in 18 years, The Rising , produced by Brendan O'Brien . The album, mostly

6981-501: A young, white and largely male audience. As a result, it has also been seen to articulate the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, "rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality and aggression". Since the term "rock" started being used in preference to "rock and roll" from the late-1960s, it has usually been contrasted with pop music, with which it has shared many characteristics, but from which it

7160-539: Is Bruce Springsteen." Springsteen met Landau in Boston a month prior and the two became close friends; Landau subsequently became the co-producer of Springsteen's next album, Born to Run , in February 1975. As Springsteen's last-ditch effort at a commercially viable record, Springsteen became bogged down in the recording process while striving for a " Wall of Sound " production. When his manager, Mike Appel , orchestrated

7339-597: Is also involved in the development of new English language songwriting talent through workshops, showcases, and scholarships. There are many programs designed to teach and discover new English language songwriters. Nile Rodgers serves as the organization's chairman. The Hall of Fame was formed in 1969, and in 2010, an exhibit was put on display online inside the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live in Los Angeles . The Hall has no permanent place of residence, and because

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7518-423: Is centered on the electric guitar , usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar , drums , and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a 4 time signature using a verse–chorus form , but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music , lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock

7697-540: Is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music. Four years later, Bill Haley 's " Rock Around the Clock " (1954) became the first rock and roll song to top Billboard magazine's main sales and airplay charts, and opened the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture. Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Fats Domino , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Soon rock and roll

7876-472: Is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966. By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or the draft . New styles had evolved to replace garage rock. Although the first impact of the British Invasion on American popular music was through beat and R&B based acts,

8055-555: Is in the music of Chuck Berry , the Ramones , and the Replacements . The foundations of rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to much of the rest of the world. Its immediate origins lay in a melding of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music , with country and western . Debate surrounds

8234-411: Is often distanced by an emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and a focus on serious and progressive themes as part of an ideology of authenticity that is frequently combined with an awareness of the genre's history and development. According to Simon Frith , rock was "something more than pop, something more than rock and roll" and "[r]ock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with

8413-399: Is termed as a rock band or a rock group. Furthermore, it typically consists of between three (the power trio ) and five members. Classically, a rock band takes the form of a quartet whose members cover one or more roles, including vocalist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bass guitarist, drummer, and often keyboard player or another instrumentalist. Rock music is traditionally built on

8592-474: Is the Band." Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame ( SHOF ) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer , music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman , and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heritage and legacy of a spectrum of the most beloved English language songs from the world's popular music songbook. It not only celebrates these established songwriters, but

8771-698: Is the ninth-most played song in Springsteen's concert catalog; as of June 2020, he has played it live 809 times. In February 1974, The Stone Pony , a music venue and bar, opened on Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park , and Springsteen played there regularly. Several years later, in the early 1980s, prior to the start of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in June 1984, Springsteen also met his second and current wife Patti Scialfa at The Stone Pony during her performance there. As

8950-535: The Billboard Hot 100 . The British Invasion greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with a national audience, leading many (often surf or hot rod groups) to adopt a British influence, and encouraging many more groups to form. Thousands of garage bands were extant in the United States and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits. Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It

9129-459: The 1984 presidential campaign became the subject of considerable folklore . In 1984, conservative columnist George Will attended a Springsteen concert and then wrote a column praising Springsteen's work ethic. 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

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9308-652: The Abe Olman Publisher Award . In his honor, the Abe Olman Scholarship is given out each year by his family in the interest of encouraging and supporting the careers of young songwriters. The scholarship has been awarded since 1989 to individuals such as Matt Katz-Bohen , John Legend , and Bebe Rexha . Created in 2010, the Holly Prize is a tribute to the legacy of Buddy Holly , a SHOF inductee. The award recognizes and supports

9487-833: The American Revolution , which evolved into the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . The Springsteen surname originates in Groningen , a province in the Netherlands , and is topographic , translating to "jump stone" and meaning a stepping stone used on unpaved streets or between two houses. Springsteen's Italian maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense and emigrated through Ellis Island . He arrived in

9666-524: The American folk music revival had grown to a major movement, using traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments. In America the genre was pioneered by figures such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and often identified with progressive or labor politics . In the early sixties figures such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters. Dylan had begun to reach

9845-607: The Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. 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). From June 15 to August 10, 1985, all seven of his albums appeared on the UK Albums Chart : the first time an artist had charted their entire back catalogue simultaneously. Live/1975–85 ,

10024-475: The Billboard Hot 100. According to author Louis Masur, the album's success was tied to the fears of growing old held by a generation of late teenagers. In October 1975, Springsteen appeared on the covers of both Newsweek and Time in the same week, becoming the first artist to do so. The magazines' cover stories resulted in a media backlash, as critics began wondering if Springsteen was for real or

10203-488: The Billboard chart. Nevertheless, it surprised critics, who praised it as a brave artistic statement. In 1984, Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A. , which sold 30 million worldwide, and became one of the best-selling albums of all time , with seven singles hitting the top ten. The title track was a bitter commentary on the treatment of Vietnam veterans , some of whom were Springsteen's friends. The lyrics in

10382-468: The E Street Band , although the name was not used until September 1974. Springsteen acquired the nickname "the Boss" during this period, since he took on the task of collecting his band's nightly pay and distributing it among his bandmates. The nickname also reportedly sprang from games of Monopoly , which Springsteen played with other Jersey Shore musicians. Springsteen was signed to Columbia Records in 1972 by John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to

10561-598: The NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar Award is presented to a music composition student whose work holds great potential for success in the field, and embodies the art, craft, individuality and qualities of communication of the best songwriting. The Towering Performance Award is given in recognition of one-of-a-kind performances by one-of-a-kind singers that have recorded outstanding and unforgettable interpretations of songs that have become iconic standards. The Towering Song Award

10740-422: The garage rock / post-punk revival in the 2000s. Since the 2010s, rock has lost its position as the pre-eminent popular music genre in world culture, but remains commercially successful. The increased influence of hip-hop and electronic dance music can be seen in rock music, notably in the techno-pop scene of the early 2010s and the pop-punk-hip-hop revival of the 2020s. Rock has also embodied and served as

10919-417: The protest song , rock music has been associated with political activism , as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex, and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity . At the same time, it has been commercially highly successful, leading to accusations of selling out . A good definition of rock, in fact, is that it's popular music that to

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11098-454: The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar, and the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing through such exponents as Chuck Berry, Link Wray , and Scotty Moore . The use of distortion , pioneered by Western swing guitarists such as Junior Barnard and Eldon Shamblin was popularized by Chuck Berry in the mid-1950s. The use of power chords , pioneered by Francisco Tárrega and Heitor Villa-Lobos in

11277-467: The 19th century and later on by Willie Johnson and Pat Hare in the early 1950s, was popularized by Link Wray in the late 1950s. Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become

11456-652: The Abe Olman Publisher Award and Paul Williams is set to receive the Johnny Mercer Award. On March 8, 2022, the ceremony was officially announced to take place on June 16, 2022, at its longtime location, the Marriott Marquis New York’s Times Square. The Abe Olman Publisher Award is given to publishers who have had a substantial number of songs that have become world-renowned and who have helped to further

11635-477: The Banshees , Ultravox , and Simple Minds , showed the influence of progressive rock, as well as their more usually recognized punk influences. In the late 1960s, jazz-rock emerged as a distinct subgenre out of the blues-rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock scenes, mixing the power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational elements of jazz. AllMusic states that the term jazz-rock "may refer to

11814-628: The Beatles, demonstrating "to the rock generation in general that an album could be a major standalone statement without hit singles", such as on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts like the Mamas & the Papas and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned performers including

11993-617: The Byrds ' shift from folk to folk rock from 1965. The psychedelic lifestyle, which revolved around hallucinogenic drugs, had already developed in San Francisco and particularly prominent products of the scene were Big Brother and the Holding Company , the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane . The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's lead guitarist, Jimi Hendrix did extended distorted, feedback-filled jams which became

12172-431: The Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-string Rickenbacker guitars, which became a major element in the sound of the genre. Later that year Dylan adopted electric instruments, much to the outrage of many folk purists, with his " Like a Rolling Stone " becoming a US hit single. According to Ritchie Unterberger , Dylan (even before his adoption of electric instruments) influenced rock musicians like

12351-594: The Dominos , followed by an extensive solo career that helped bring blues rock into the mainstream. Green, along with the Bluesbreaker's rhythm section Mick Fleetwood and John McVie , formed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac , who enjoyed some of the greatest commercial success in the genre. In the late 1960s Jeff Beck , also an alumnus of the Yardbirds, moved blues rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band,

12530-657: 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 subsequent No Nukes live album, as well as the following summer's No Nukes documentary film, represented the first official recordings and footage of Springsteen's fabled live act and Springsteen's first tentative dip into political involvement. The recording sessions for Springsteen's fifth album, The River , lasted 18 months. The 20-track double album

12709-630: The E Street Band participated in the Vote for Change tour, with John Mellencamp , John Fogerty , the Dixie Chicks , Pearl Jam , R.E.M. , Bright Eyes , the Dave Matthews Band , Jackson Browne , and other musicians. The solo record Devils & Dust was released in April 2005. It is a low-key, mostly acoustic album, in the same vein as Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad . Some of

12888-573: The E Street Band together through extensive touring across the U.S. and continued writing new material. Reaching a settlement with Appel in May 1977, Springsteen returned to the studio, and the subsequent nine-month recording sessions with the E Street Band produced Darkness on the Edge of Town . The record stripped the "Wall of Sound" production of Born to Run for a rawer hard rock sound. Its lyrics focus on ill-fortuned people who fight back against overwhelming odds. Released in June 1978, Darkness on

13067-539: The Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), Springsteen's first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. After the solo effort Nebraska (1982), he recorded Born in the U.S.A. (1984) with the E Street Band, which became his most commercially successful album and the 23rd-best selling album of all time as of 2024. All seven singles from Born in the U.S.A. reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 , including

13246-436: The Edge of Town sold fewer copies than its predecessor, but remained on the Billboard chart for 167 weeks, selling three million copies in the U.S. Its three singles—" Prove It All Night ", " Badlands ", and " The Promised Land "—performed modestly. The supporting Darkness Tour was Springsteen's largest up to that point and featured shows that lasted upwards of three hours in length. The staff of Ultimate Classic Rock said

13425-507: The Gates of Dawn . Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow and the Doors ' self-titled debut album . These trends peaked in the 1969 Woodstock festival , which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts. Sgt. Pepper was later regarded as the greatest album of all time and a starting point for the album era , during which rock music transitioned from

13604-719: The Global Ambassador Award. The award is given to an individual "whose music has true worldwide appeal, crossing genre, cultural and national boundaries". First presented in 2004 as the Starlight Award, the prize was renamed in 2006 as the Hal David Starlight Award in honor of the SHOF Chairman's longtime support of young songwriters. Award recipients are gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making

13783-664: The Grammy for Best Rock Album and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards in 2003. In addition, "The Rising" won the Grammy for Best Rock Song and for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance , and nominated for Song of the Year. 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 . In 2004, Springsteen and

13962-545: The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was met with critical acclaim but limited commercial success. Springsteen's songs became grander in form and scope with the E Street Band providing a less folksy, more rhythm and blues vibe, and lyrics that romanticized teenage street life. " 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. "Rosalita"

14141-471: The Jeff Beck Group . The last Yardbirds guitarist was Jimmy Page , who went on to form The New Yardbirds which rapidly became Led Zeppelin . Many of the songs on their first three albums, and occasionally later in their careers, were expansions on traditional blues songs. In America, blues rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitarist Lonnie Mack , but the genre began to take off in

14320-506: The Joint " (1949), also covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952; and " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact, Ike Turner and his band the Kings of Rhythm ), recorded by Sam Phillips for Chess Records in 1951. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music (then termed " race music ") for a multi-racial audience, and

14499-458: The Light " and " For You ", and because of his connection with Hammond and Columbia Records, critics initially compared Springsteen to Bob Dylan . "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 . Crawdaddy

14678-503: The Lovin' Spoonful and Simon and Garfunkel , with the latter's acoustic " The Sounds of Silence " (1965) being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits. These acts directly influenced British performers like Donovan and Fairport Convention . In 1969 Fairport Convention abandoned their mixture of American covers and Dylan-influenced songs to play traditional English folk music on electric instruments. This British folk-rock

14857-530: The Night " with revised lyrics by Smith in 1978. The Pointer Sisters hit No. 2 in 1979 with Springsteen's then unreleased " Fire ". 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. In September 1979, Springsteen and

15036-476: The Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds , were much more directly influenced by rhythm and blues and later blues music. Soon these groups were composing their own material, combining US forms of music and infusing it with a high energy beat. Beat bands tended towards "bouncy, irresistible melodies", while early British blues acts tended towards less sexually innocent, more aggressive songs, often adopting an anti-establishment stance. There was, however, particularly in

15215-588: The Searchers from Liverpool and Freddie and the Dreamers , Herman's Hermits and the Hollies from Manchester. They drew on a wide range of American influences including 1950s rock and roll, soul, rhythm and blues, and surf music, initially reinterpreting standard American tunes and playing for dancers. Bands like the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast , and particularly those from London like

15394-672: The Seeds ) to near-studio musician quality (including the Knickerbockers , the Remains , and the Fifth Estate ). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas. The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps the most defined regional sound. The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "Tall Cool One" (1959) by

15573-619: The Seeger Sessions Band (and later shortened to the Sessions Band). The tour proved very popular in Europe, selling out everywhere and receiving some excellent reviews, but newspapers reported that a number of U.S. shows suffered from sparse attendance. Rock music Rock is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll " in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into

15752-458: The Songwriters Hall of Fame for having established a history of outstanding creative works. The Patron of the Arts is presented to influential industry executives who are not primarily in the music business but are great supporters of the performing arts. The Pioneer Award was established in 2012 to recognize the career of a historic creator of an extensive body of musical work that has been

15931-461: The St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Freehold, where he was at odds with the nuns and rebelled against the strictures imposed upon him, though some of his later music reflected a Catholic ethos and included Irish Catholic hymns with a rock music twist. In 2012, Springsteen said that it was his Catholic upbringing rather than his political ideology that most influenced his music. He said his faith gave him

16110-676: The US was becoming dominated by lightweight pop and ballads, British rock groups at clubs and local dances were developing a style more strongly influenced by blues-rock pioneers, and were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts; this influence would go on to shape the future of rock music through the British Invasion . The first four years of the 1960s has traditionally been seen as an era of hiatus for rock and roll. More recently some authors have emphasised important innovations and trends in this period without which future developments would not have been possible. While early rock and roll, particularly through

16289-619: The USSR and South Africa from 1955 to 1957, influencing the globalisation of rock. Johnny O'Keefe 's 1958 record " Wild One " was one of the earliest Australian rock and roll hits. By the late 1950s, as well as in the American-influenced Western world, rock was popular in communist states such as Yugoslavia, and the USSR, as well as in regions such as South America. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, American blues music and blues rock artists, who had been surpassed by

16468-437: The United States unable to read or write English, but went on to become a lawyer and impressed the young Springsteen as being "larger than life". Springsteen has two younger sisters, Virginia and Pamela (born c. 1962). Pamela Springsteen worked briefly as an actress and later as a photographer; she took photos for three Springsteen albums, Human Touch , Lucky Town , and The Ghost of Tom Joad . Springsteen attended

16647-751: The Wailers and " Louie Louie " by the Kingsmen (1963) are mainstream examples of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, including Paul Revere and the Raiders (Boise), the Trashmen (Minneapolis) and the Rivieras (South Bend, Indiana). Other influential garage bands, such as the Sonics (Tacoma, Washington), never reached

16826-408: The acoustic MTV Unplugged television program (later released as In Concert/MTV Plugged ) was poorly received and cemented fan dissatisfaction. Springsteen won an Academy Award in 1994 for his song " Streets of Philadelphia ", which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia . The video for the song shows Springsteen's actual vocal performance, recorded using a hidden microphone, to

17005-569: The actress's career. The song " Cover Me " was written by Springsteen for Donna Summer , but his record company persuaded him to keep it for the new album. A big fan of Summer's work, Springsteen wrote another song for her, " Protection ". Videos for Born in the U.S.A. were directed by Brian De Palma and John Sayles . Springsteen played on the " We Are the World " song and album in 1985. His live track "Trapped" from that album received moderate airplay on US Top 40 stations as well as reaching No. 1 on

17184-527: The advent of rockabilly, saw the greatest commercial success for male and white performers, in this era, the genre was dominated by black and female artists. Rock and roll had not disappeared entirely from music at the end of the 1950s and some of its energy can be seen in the various dance crazes of the early 1960s, started by Chubby Checker 's record " The Twist " (1960). Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including

17363-448: The attention of several people who went on to prove influential to his career development, including managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, who in turn brought him to the attention of John Hammond , a talent scout at Columbia Records . In May 1972, Springsteen auditioned for Hammond. In October 1972, Springsteen formed a new band for the recording of his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. The band eventually became known as

17542-581: The awards are not televised, there would be no other digital recording of the event for posterity. There are numerous examples of collaborating songwriters being inducted in unison, with each person being considered a separate entrant. The inaugural year featured 120 inductees, many of whom had a professional partnership, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein . Burt Bacharach and Hal David followed in 1972. Betty Comden and Adolph Green were selected in 1980, and Leiber and Stoller were inducted in 1985. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were inducted in 1987. In

17721-846: The band's "cohesive musicality" and called Springsteen "a most impressive composer". In San Mateo , Steel Mill recorded three original Springsteen songs at Pacific Recording. As Springsteen sought to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style, he performed with the bands Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom from early-to-mid-1971, the Sundance Blues Band in mid-1971, and the Bruce Springsteen Band from mid-1971 to mid-1972. His songwriting ability included, as his future record label described it in early publicity campaigns, "more words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums". He brought his skills to

17900-585: The biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed into the US charts by numerous British bands. During the next two years British acts dominated their own and the US charts with Peter and Gordon , the Animals, Manfred Mann , Petula Clark , Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders , Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs , and Donovan all having one or more number one singles. Other major acts that were part of

18079-469: The careers and success of many songwriters. The Board of Directors Award is presented to an individual selected by the SHOF Board in recognition of his or her service to the songwriting community and the advancement of popular music. The Contemporary Icon Award was established in 2015 to recognize songwriter-artists who attained an iconic status in pop culture. In 2017, Pitbull was presented

18258-405: The chart. Their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964, drawing an estimated 73 million viewers (at the time a record for an American television program) is considered a milestone in American pop culture. During the week of 4 April 1964, the Beatles held 12 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the entire top five. The Beatles went on to become

18437-645: The concert "the most important rock concert ever, anywhere" in his 2013 book Rocking the Wall. Bruce Springsteen: The Berlin Concert That Changed the World . The concert had been conceived by the Socialist Unity Party 's youth wing in an attempt to placate the youth of East Germany , who were hungry for more freedom and the popular music of the West. However, it is Kirschbaum's opinion that

18616-543: The critically acclaimed show Springsteen on Broadway , in which he performed songs and told stories from his 2016 autobiography ; an album version from the Broadway performances was released in 2018. He released the solo Western Stars (2019), Letter to You (2020) with the E Street Band, and a solo covers album Only the Strong Survive (2022). Letter to You reached No. 2 in the US, making Springsteen

18795-424: The delights and limitations of the regional , and to deal with the depredations and benefits of mass culture itself. — Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide (1981) Unlike many earlier styles of popular music, rock lyrics have dealt with a wide range of themes, including romantic love, sex, rebellion against " The Establishment ", social concerns, and life styles. These themes were inherited from

18974-703: The direction of Springsteen's next record, the minimalist , folk-inspired solo effort Nebraska , released in September 1982. Springsteen recorded the songs on the album as demo recordings at his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey , intending to re-record them with the E Street Band, but after poor test sessions he decided to release the recordings as is. The album chronicled dark hardships felt by everyday blue-collar workers, as well as bleak tales of criminals, cops, and gang wars. Nebraska sold minimally compared to Springsteen's three previous albums, but reached No. 3 on

19153-455: The early 1970s among existing blues-rock and psychedelic bands, as well as newly formed acts. The vibrant Canterbury scene saw acts following Soft Machine from psychedelia, through jazz influences, toward more expansive hard rock, including Caravan , Hatfield and the North , Gong , and National Health . The French group Magma around drummer Christian Vander almost single-handedly created

19332-460: The early 1970s, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): The decade is, of course, an arbitrary schema itself—time doesn't just execute a neat turn toward the future every ten years. But like a lot of artificial concepts—money, say—the category does take on a reality of its own once people figure out how to put it to work. "The '60s are over,"

19511-462: The early stages, considerable musical crossover between the two tendencies. By 1963, led by the Beatles, beat groups had begun to achieve national success in Britain, soon to be followed into the charts by the more rhythm and blues focused acts. " I Want to Hold Your Hand " was the Beatles' first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 , spending seven weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on

19690-519: The electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek , and the elaborate production methods of the Wall of Sound pursued by Phil Spector . The instrumental rock and roll of performers such as Duane Eddy , Link Wray and the Ventures was further developed by Dick Dale , who added distinctive "wet" reverb , rapid alternate picking, and Middle Eastern and Mexican influences. He produced

19869-581: The example set by the Beatles ' 1965 LP Rubber Soul in particular, other British rock acts released rock albums intended as artistic statements in 1966, including the Rolling Stones ' Aftermath , the Beatles' own Revolver , and the Who 's A Quick One , as well as American acts in the Beach Boys ( Pet Sounds ) and Bob Dylan ( Blonde on Blonde ). Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, particularly prevalent in North America in

20048-415: The first artist to release a top-five album across six consecutive decades. One of the album era 's most prominent musicians, Springsteen has sold more than 71 million albums in the U.S. and over 140 million worldwide, making him the 27th best-selling music artist of all time as of 2024. His accolades include 20 Grammy Awards , two Golden Globes , an Academy Award , and a Special Tony Award . He

20227-498: The first record, and worldwide hit, for the Virgin Records label, which became a mainstay of the genre. Instrumental rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , Can , Focus (band) and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesiser-heavy " krautrock ", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music ), would be

20406-455: The folk scene. The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators from Texas. The Beatles introduced many of the major elements of the psychedelic sound to audiences in this period, such as guitar feedback , the Indian sitar and backmasking sound effects . Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed

20585-513: The format of rock operas and opened the door to concept albums , often telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme. King Crimson 's 1969 début album, In the Court of the Crimson King , which mixed powerful guitar riffs and mellotron , with jazz and symphonic music , is often taken as the key recording in progressive rock, helping the widespread adoption of the genre in

20764-458: The impetus was soon taken up by a second wave of bands that drew their inspiration more directly from American blues , including the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds . British blues musicians of the late 1950s and early 1960s had been inspired by the acoustic playing of figures such as Lead Belly , who was a major influence on the Skiffle craze, and Robert Johnson . Increasingly they adopted

20943-467: The invasion included the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five . The British Invasion helped internationalize the production of rock and roll, opening the door for subsequent British (and Irish) performers to achieve international success. In America it arguably spelled the end of instrumental surf music, vocal girl groups and (for a time) the teen idols , that had dominated the American charts in

21122-487: The issues of working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours. Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , in 1973. Although both were well received by critics, neither earned him a large audience. He changed his style and achieved worldwide popularity with Born to Run (1975), followed by Darkness on

21301-517: The label were R&B oriented white rock bands that made use of jazzy horn sections, like Electric Flag , Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago , to become some of the most commercially successful acts of the later 1960s and the early 1970s. British acts to emerge in the same period from the blues scene, to make use of the tonal and improvisational aspects of jazz, included Nucleus and the Graham Bond and John Mayall spin-off Colosseum . From

21480-446: The late 1950s and 1960s. It dented the careers of established R&B acts like Fats Domino and Chubby Checker and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis. The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material as singer-songwriters. Following

21659-410: The loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation." Jazz-rock "...generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s", including the singer-songwriter movement. Many early US rock and roll musicians had begun in jazz and carried some of these elements into

21838-476: The many recordings which have been suggested as "the first rock and roll record ". Contenders include " Strange Things Happening Every Day " by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1944); " That's All Right " by Arthur Crudup (1946), which was later covered by Elvis Presley in 1954; " The House of Blue Lights " by Ella Mae Morse and Freddie Slack (1946); Wynonie Harris ' " Good Rocking Tonight " (1948); Goree Carter 's "Rock Awhile" (1949); Jimmy Preston 's " Rock

22017-553: The material was written almost 10 years earlier, during or shortly after the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour; a few of the songs had been performed at that time but unreleased. The title track concerns an ordinary soldier's feelings and fears during the Iraq War . The album topped the charts in ten countries. Springsteen began the solo Devils & Dust Tour at the same time as the album's release, playing both small and large venues. Attendance

22196-674: The mid-1950s by white singers such as Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley . Hispanic and Latino American movements in rock and roll, which would eventually lead to the success of Latin rock and Chicano rock within the US, began to rise in the Southwest ; with rock and roll standard musician Ritchie Valens and even those within other heritage genres, such as Al Hurricane along with his brothers Tiny Morrie and Baby Gaby as they began combining rock and roll with country- western within traditional New Mexico music . In addition,

22375-609: The mid-1960s the Left Banke , the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion of harpsichords , wind , and string sections on their recordings to produce a form of Baroque rock and can be heard in singles like Procol Harum 's " A Whiter Shade of Pale " (1967), with its Bach -inspired introduction. The Moody Blues used a full orchestra on their album Days of Future Passed (1967) and subsequently created orchestral sounds with synthesizers. Classical orchestration, keyboards, and synthesizers were

22554-479: The mid-1960s and so called because of the perception that it was rehearsed in the suburban family garage. Garage rock songs often revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" and unfair social circumstances being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery tended to be more aggressive than was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming. They ranged from crude one-chord music (like

22733-435: The mid-1960s as acts developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts included Paul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as a starting point for many successful musicians), Canned Heat , the early Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , the J. Geils Band and Jimi Hendrix with his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience (which included two British members, and

22912-401: The mid-1960s onwards, rock music often used the verse–chorus structure derived from blues and folk music, but there has been considerable variation from this model. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock. Because of its complex history and its tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that "it is impossible to bind rock music to

23091-588: The much more sedate and contemplative Tunnel of Love in October 1987. The album is a mature reflection on the many faces of love found, lost and squandered, and the full sound of the E Street Band is included only selectively. Although it sold less than Born in the U.S.A. , it was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200. On July 19, 1988, Springsteen's concert in East Germany attracted 300,000 spectators. Journalist Erik Kirschbaum called

23270-465: The new music genre zeuhl with their first albums in the early 1970s. Greater commercial success was enjoyed by Pink Floyd, who also moved away from psychedelia after the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), seen as a masterpiece of the genre, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. There was an emphasis on instrumental virtuosity, with Yes showcasing

23449-608: The new music. In Britain the subgenre of blues rock, and many of its leading figures, like Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of the Eric Clapton -fronted band Cream , had emerged from the British jazz scene. Often highlighted as the first true jazz-rock recording is the only album by the relatively obscure New York–based the Free Spirits with Out of Sight and Sound (1966). The first group of bands to self-consciously use

23628-525: The product of record company promotion. Springsteen was hurt by the backlash and disliked his newfound attention. When the E Street Band arrived in London for their first concerts outside North America, Springsteen personally tore down promotional posters in the lobby of the Hammersmith Odeon . A legal battle with Appel kept Springsteen out of the studio for nearly a year, during which time he kept

23807-471: The psychedelic rock and the Canterbury scenes came Soft Machine, who, it has been suggested, produced one of the artistically successfully fusions of the two genres. Perhaps the most critically acclaimed fusion came from the jazz side of the equation, with Miles Davis , particularly influenced by the work of Hendrix, incorporating rock instrumentation into his sound for the album Bitches Brew (1970). It

23986-653: The regional hit " Let's Go Trippin ' " in 1961 and launched the surf music craze, following up with songs like " Misirlou " (1962). Like Dale and his Del-Tones , most early surf bands were formed in Southern California, including the Bel-Airs , the Challengers , and Eddie & the Showmen . The Chantays scored a top ten national hit with " Pipeline " in 1963 and probably the best-known surf tune

24165-466: The release of an early mix of " Born to Run " to nearly a dozen radio stations, anticipation built toward the album's release. The album took over 14 months to record with six months spent recording "Born to Run" alone. 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. Springsteen battled with anger and frustration throughout

24344-448: The rise of rock and roll in the US, found new popularity in the UK, visiting with successful tours. Lonnie Donegan 's 1955 hit " Rock Island Line " was a major influence and helped to develop the trend of skiffle music groups throughout the country, many of which, including John Lennon 's Quarrymen (later the Beatles ), moved on to play rock and roll. While former rock and roll market in

24523-475: The romantic concept of art as artistic expression, original and sincere". In the new millennium, the term rock has occasionally been used as a blanket term including forms like pop music, reggae music , soul music , and even hip hop , which it has been influenced with but often contrasted through much of its history. Christgau has used the term broadly to refer to popular and semipopular music that caters to his sensibility as "a rock-and-roller", including

24702-522: The same era, and by percussion produced from a drum kit that combines drums and cymbals. This trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, the Hammond organ , and the synthesizer. The basic rock instrumentation was derived from the basic blues band instrumentation (prominent lead guitar, second chordal instrument, bass, and drums). A group of musicians performing rock music

24881-604: The same label a decade earlier. Despite the expectations of Columbia Records' executives that Springsteen would record an acoustic album, he brought many of his New Jersey–based colleagues with him, who would later form the E Street Band, which the band formally named several months later. His debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. , released in January 1973, established him as a critical favorite, though sales were slow. Because of Springsteen's lyrical poeticism and folk rock -rooted music exemplified on tracks like " Blinded by

25060-474: The same year, Gerry Goffin , Carole King , Barry Mann , and Cynthia Weil were inducted into the SHOF. Motown 's Holland-Dozier-Holland team were honored the following year. Elton John and Bernie Taupin were among those chosen in 1992, and the pop music group the Bee Gees had all three brothers inducted in 1994. In 1995, Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe as well as Gamble and Huff were inducted. John Denver

25239-555: The second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk was an influence in the 1980s on new wave , post-punk and eventually alternative rock . From the 1990s, alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge , Britpop , and indie rock . Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop-punk , electronic rock , rap rock , and rap metal . Some movements were conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including

25418-418: The sessions, saying he heard "sounds in [his] head" that he could not explain to the others in the studio. He also dealt with two producers who had opposing views, which Springsteen had to meet in the middle of. During the recording of " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out ", Steven Van Zandt conceived the horn parts for the horn players on the spot in the studio after Springsteen and Bittan had failed to write proper ones by

25597-546: The singles format to albums and achieved cultural legitimacy in the mainstream. Led by the Beatles in the mid-1960s, rock musicians advanced the LP as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, initiating a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. Progressive rock, a term sometimes used interchangeably with art rock , moved beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms. From

25776-413: The skills of both guitarist Steve Howe and keyboard player Rick Wakeman , while Emerson, Lake & Palmer were a supergroup who produced some of the genre's most technically demanding work. Jethro Tull and Genesis both pursued very different, but distinctly English, brands of music. Renaissance , formed in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds Jim McCarty and Keith Relf, evolved into a high-concept band featuring

25955-521: The sprawling, four-disc box set of outtakes , Tracks . Later, he would acknowledge that the 1990s were musically a "lost period" for him: "I didn't do a lot of work. Some people would say I didn't do my best work." Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Bono (the lead singer of U2), a favor he returned in 2005. In 1999, Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited and began their extensive Reunion Tour , which lasted over

26134-604: The success of the concert catalyzed opposition to the regime in East Germany, and helped contribute to the fall of the Berlin Wall the following year. Later in 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International . In October 1989, he dissolved the E Street Band. 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 . An electric band appearance on

26313-615: The three-octave voice of Annie Haslam . Most British bands depended on a relatively small cult following, but a handful, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Jethro Tull, managed to produce top ten singles at home and break the American market. The American brand of progressive rock varied from the eclectic and innovative Frank Zappa , Captain Beefheart and Blood, Sweat & Tears , to more pop rock orientated bands like Boston , Foreigner , Kansas , Journey , and Styx . These, beside British bands Supertramp and ELO , all demonstrated

26492-425: The time the players arrived to record. He joined the E Street Band shortly after. Mixing for Born to Run lasted until July 20, 1975, just before a concert tour began. Born to Run was mastered while the band was on the road. Springsteen was furious at the initial acetate, throwing it into the swimming pool of the hotel he was staying at. He contemplated scrapping the entire project and re-recording it live before he

26671-470: The title track . Springsteen mostly hired session musicians for the recording of his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992). He reassembled the E Street Band for Greatest Hits (1995), and recorded the acoustic album The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) and the EP Blood Brothers (1996) solo. Springsteen dedicated The Rising (2002) to

26850-471: The tour solidified Springsteen and the E Street Band as "one of the most exciting live acts in rock 'n' roll". By the late 1970s, Springsteen earned a reputation as a songwriter whose material could provide hits for other bands. Manfred Mann's Earth Band had achieved a U.S. No. 1 pop hit with a heavily rearranged version of Greetings ' "Blinded by the Light" in early 1977. Patti Smith reached No. 13 with her version of Springsteen's unreleased " Because

27029-409: The vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major subcultures including mods and rockers in the U.K., the hippie movement and the wider Western counterculture movement that spread out from San Francisco in the U.S. in the 1960s, the latter of which continues to this day. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the goth , punk, and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of

27208-427: 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. The song made a huge political impact, as he was advocating for the rights of the common working-class man. The song was widely misinterpreted as jingoistic , and in connection with

27387-410: The victims of the September 11 attacks . He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust (2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band, Magic (2007) and Working on a Dream (2009). The next albums, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, Springsteen performed

27566-480: The work of the Beach Boys , formed in 1961 in Southern California. Their early albums included both instrumental surf rock (among them covers of music by Dick Dale) and vocal songs, drawing on rock and roll and doo wop and the close harmonies of vocal pop acts like the Four Freshmen . The Beach Boys first chart hit, " Surfin ' " in 1961 reached the Billboard top 100 and helped make the surf music craze

27745-533: The work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet (1968) and the Beatles' Let It Be (1970). Reflecting on this change of trends in rock music over the past few years, Christgau wrote in his June 1970 "Consumer Guide" column that this "new orthodoxy" and "cultural lag" abandoned improvisatory, studio-ornamented productions in favor of an emphasis on "tight, spare instrumentation" and song composition: "Its referents are '50s rock, country music, and rhythm-and-blues, and its key inspiration

27924-404: The world, except as a new brand of painkiller ... In the '70s the powerful took over, as rock industrialists capitalized on the national mood to reduce potent music to an often reactionary species of entertainment—and to transmute rock's popular base from the audience to market." Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from what some saw as the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to

28103-577: The young Springsteen when he promised he would make it big. In the late 1960s, Springsteen performed briefly in a power trio known as Earth, who played in various clubs in New Jersey and at a major show at the Hotel Diplomat in New York City . This was different, shifted the lay of the land. Four guys, playing and singing, writing their own material. [...] Rock 'n' roll came to my house where there seemed to be no way out [...] and opened up

28282-582: Was John Mayall ; his band, the Bluesbreakers , included Eric Clapton (after Clapton's departure from the Yardbirds) and later Peter Green . Particularly significant was the release of Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings and the sound of which was much emulated in both Britain and the United States. Eric Clapton went on to form supergroups Cream, Blind Faith , and Derek and

28461-481: 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 . In failing his examination, Springsteen likely avoided conscripted service in the Vietnam War . In 1969, when he was 20 years old, Springsteen's parents and sister Pamela moved to San Mateo, California ; he and his sister Virginia, who

28640-460: Was 1963's " Wipe Out ", by the Surfaris , which hit number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard charts in 1965. Surf rock was also popular in Europe during this time, with the British group the Shadows scoring hits in the early 1960s with instrumentals such as " Apache " and " Kon-Tiki ", while Swedish surf group the Spotnicks saw success in both Sweden and Britain. Surf music achieved its greatest commercial success as vocal pop music, particularly

28819-473: Was a major influence on subsequent rock-influenced jazz artists, including Herbie Hancock , Chick Corea and Weather Report . The genre began to fade in the late 1970s, as a mellower form of fusion began to take its audience, but acts like Steely Dan , Frank Zappa and Joni Mitchell recorded significant jazz-influenced albums in this period, and it has continued to be a major influence on rock music. Reflecting on developments that occurred in rock music in

28998-463: Was an attempt at capturing the energy and feel of the E Street Band playing live on stage and featured a mix of party songs and introspective ballads. Released in October 1980, The River became Springsteen's biggest and fastest-selling album yet, topping the U.S. Billboard chart. The single " Hungry Heart " became his first top ten single as a performer, reaching number five, while " Fade Away " reached No. 20. Several songs on The River foreshadowed

29177-500: Was an early champion of Springsteen; Knobler profiled him in the magazine three times, in 1973, 1975, and 1978. In June 1976, Springsteen and the E Street Band acknowledged the magazine's support by giving a private performance at the magazine's 10th Anniversary Party in New York City. Springsteen's second album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , was released in November 1973, eleven months after Greetings from Asbury Park . Like Springsteen's inaugural album, The Wild,

29356-444: Was born at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey , on September 23, 1949, to Douglas Frederick "Dutch" Springsteen (1924–1998) and his wife, Adele Ann (née Zerilli; 1925–2024). Springsteen's father worked as a bus driver and other jobs. His father had mental health issues throughout his life, which worsened in his later life. His mother, who was originally from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York , worked as

29535-424: Was continued in the 1970s by figures such as George Thorogood and Pat Travers , but, particularly on the British scene (except perhaps for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat who moved towards a form of high energy and repetitive boogie rock ), bands became focused on heavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream. By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of

29714-410: Was disappointing in a few regions, and except in Europe tickets were easier to get than in the past. In April 2006, Springsteen released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions , an American roots music project focused around a big folk sound treatment of 15 songs popularized by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger . A tour began the same month, with the 18-strong ensemble of musicians dubbed

29893-449: Was founded in Britain), and Band of Gypsys , whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade. Blues rock bands from the southern states, like the Allman Brothers Band , Lynyrd Skynyrd , and ZZ Top , incorporated country elements into their style to produce the distinctive genre Southern rock . Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations, which would later be

30072-446: Was inducted in 1996. The Eagles' Glenn Frey and Don Henley were co-inductees in 2000. Queen was the first rock band to have all their band members inducted in 2003. Five members of Earth, Wind & Fire were in the class of 2010. Four members of Kool and the Gang were honored in 2018. Through 2019, 461 individuals were inducted into the SHOF. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

30251-467: Was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked Springsteen 23rd on its list of the " 100 Greatest Artists of All Time ", describing him as "the embodiment of rock and roll". Springsteen

30430-422: 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

30609-404: Was married and pregnant at the time, remained in Freehold. In 1964, Springsteen saw the Beatles ' televised appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show . Inspired, he bought his first guitar for $ 18.95 at the Western Auto appliance store. Thereafter, he started playing for audiences with a band called the Rogues at local venues, including Elks Lodge in Freehold. Later that year, his mother took out

30788-431: Was postponed until 2022. The Songwriters Hall of Fame president and CEO, Linda Moran , chose to move the event so that a proper celebration could take place. New 2020 inductees would include Mariah Carey , Chad Hugo , the Isley Brothers , Annie Lennox , Steve Miller , Rick Nowels , William “Mickey” Stevenson , Dave Stewart and Pharrell Williams . Additionally, Jody Gerson of Universal Music Group will be given

30967-509: Was stopped by Landau. Springsteen was sent multiple mixes as he was on the road and rejected all of them, approving the final one in early August. Born to Run was released in August 1975. It proved to be a breakthrough album that catapulted Springsteen to worldwide fame. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, eventually going seven times platinum in the US. The album's two singles, "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" reached No. 23 and 83, respectively, on

31146-411: Was taken up by bands including Pentangle , Steeleye Span and the Albion Band , which in turn prompted Irish groups like Horslips and Scottish acts like the JSD Band , Spencer's Feat and later Five Hand Reel , to use their traditional music to create a brand of Celtic rock in the early 1970s. Folk-rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967–68, before many acts moved off in

31325-548: Was taking place globally in the aftermath of the Second World War . Cliff Richard is credited with one of the first rock and roll hits outside of North America with " Move It " (1959), effectively ushering in the sound of British rock . Several artists, most prominently Tommy Steele from the UK, found success with covers of major American rock and roll hits before the recordings could spread internationally, often translating them into local languages where appropriate. Steele in particular toured Britain, Scandinavia, Australia,

31504-414: Was the Nebraska album. I don't think he's been listening to this one." He then began playing "Johnny 99", with its allusions to closing factories and criminals. " Dancing in the Dark " was the biggest of seven hit singles from Born in the U.S.A. , peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart. The video for the song showed a young Courteney Cox dancing on stage with Springsteen, which helped start

31683-439: Was the first commercially successful folk song to be recorded with rock and roll instrumentation and the Beatles " I'm a Loser " (1964), arguably the first Beatles song to be influenced directly by Dylan. The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off with the Byrds ' recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man " which topped the charts in 1965. With members who had been part of the café-based folk scene in Los Angeles,

31862-430: Was the major force in American record sales and crooners , such as Eddie Fisher , Perry Como , and Patti Page , who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed. Rock and roll has been seen as leading to a number of distinct subgenres, including rockabilly, combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in

32041-400: Was the most popular genre of music in the U.S. and much of the Western world from the 1950s to the 2010s. Rock musicians in the mid-1960s began to advance the album ahead of the single as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, with the Beatles at the forefront of this development. Their contributions lent the genre a cultural legitimacy in the mainstream and initiated

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