Bruce Springsteen admits he hasn’t written a song in two years
Legendary singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen has revealed that he hasn’t written new music in two years, and admitted to struggling to come up with new material.
Notably, Springsteen released his most recent studio album, Only the Strong Survive, in 2022, which was comprised of covers of R&B and soul songs. Since then, his life and career have encountered several obstacles. In 2023, ‘The Boss’ was forced to cancel multiple dates due to his health travails. It was later confirmed that he was struggling with peptic ulcer disease. However, he committed himself to a strict regimen of rest and recuperation so he could return to the stage, which he triumphantly has this year.
Since Springsteen publicising his health problems, it has also been announced that his wife and E Street Band member, Patti Scialfa, is battling cancer.
Despite the issues he’s recently faced, though, Springsteen rejected the rumours that he’ll be retiring soon during a show in Philadelphia on August 23rd. He said: “We’ve been around for 50 fuckin’ years, and we ain’t quitting! We ain’t doing no farewell tour bullshit! Jesus Christ! No farewell tour for the E Street Band!”
He added: “Farewell to what? A thousand people screaming your name? Get the hell out. I ain’t going anywhere!
This echoed a statement from guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who also rejected claims that the end was nigh. “I don’t see the end anywhere in sight, to be honest, especially in Europe, where we’re bigger than we’ve ever been,” he maintained.
Interestingly, though, Springsteen has now claimed that he hasn’t written new music in “two years”, with his comments explaining why his last studio record featured only covers.
The New Jersey legend has admitted that he can go a long time without the desire to pen new music. Speaking at the Los Angeles premiere of his new Disney+ and Hulu documentary, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, he conceded: “Songs don’t come that often… I’ve gone two years without writing anything.”
This marks something of a change for Springsteen, as 2020’s Letter to You was written in two weeks, a tribute to late bandmate George Theiss.
Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming new projects
While Springsteen might be struggling to write new material, his career has shown no signs of slowing down, as his triumphant recent tours have shown, and he’s committed to other projects. Just because he’s not writing clearly doesn’t mean he’ll stop making music, as his last album confirmed.
In April, 20th Century Studios announced that it was adapting Warren Zanes’s 2023 book Deliver Me from Nowhere, about the making of 1982’s Nebraska. Written and directed by Scott Cooper, it will feature The Bear star Jeremy Allen White playing Springsteen, who will undertake his singing parts.
This year, Springsteen also contributed guitar to Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler’s ‘Going Home: Theme of Local Hero’, a star-studded rerelease in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. He’s also set to headline Kamala Harris rallies in swing states, as America gears up for its election on November 5th.
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