Bruce Springsteen shares health update and discusses the future of his career
American rock ‘n’ roll icon Bruce Springsteen has opened up about the future of his career. The ‘Born to Run’ singer offered an update on the health issues that postponed some world tour dates recently, and how things may look for him moving forward.
The New Jersey star returned to the stage earlier this week in Phoenix, Arizona before moving on to Las Vegas where he gave a rousing performance, covering of Elvis Presley’s classic ‘Viva Las Vegas’. However, he admits that for a while, he was unsure whether he would ever see the spotlight again.
The 74-year-old singer explained that his Springsteen and E Street Band Tour was postponed because he was diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease. The condition refers to open sores that develop on the stomach lining and cause intense abdominal pain.
Speaking to SiriusXM, Springsteen explained that the uncomfortable symptoms left him unable to sing. “You sing with your diaphragm…My diaphragm was hurting so badly that when I went to make the effort to sing, it was killing me, you know?” While he explained that often in the live setting adrenaline pushes you through, even that wasn’t working for ‘The Boss’ this time around.
The postponement led to a dark period for Springsteen. He continued: “So, I literally couldn’t sing at all, you know, and that lasted for two or three months, along with just a myriad of other painful problems.”
Fortunately, he was reassured before any mental scars could really take hold. “People told me, ‘Oh no. It’s gonna go away, and you’re gonna be OK’.” This news came after a tense period whereby it seemed nobody wanted to break any bad news to the blue collar hero. “You know, you’re thinking like, ‘Hey, am I gonna sing again?’ and you know, this is one of the things I love to do the best,” he continued, “and right now I can’t do it.”
That love for touring is ratified by the fact that he has played well over 3500 in his professional career. Often he has even played through injury. So, he admits that this was recent battle was one of the scariest moments of his career.
Thankfully, he is back at it, and as his crowds this week will attest, the condition has had no lasting impacts on his performance. You can watch him playing ‘Viva Las Vegas’ below.
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