HOLLYWOOD—The Boss is back from Europe and he’s ready to rock and roll. After an extended overseas summer tour, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band have returned to North America and are ready to rock on U.S. and Canadian soil from August through December. Along the way, Bruce will stop into his home state, New Jersey, for a handful of gigs at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium on Wednesday, August 30th, Friday, September 1st and Sunday, September 3rd.
Springsteen, 73, is also slated to play Syracuse, JMA Wireless Dome on September 7th and Albany, NY’s MVP Arena on September 19th. Not sure if you’ll find last minute tickets that are cheap. Doubt if there are any tickets as low as $24. Normally tickets range anywhere from $157 and up. Everyone knows about the Bruce classic “Born in the U.S.A.” that it is an emblem of patriotic Americana as the country’s official anthem itself. The song was released on October 30, 1984, and this song has been deftly associated with a heartfelt ode to the Boss’ homeland, a common perception that masks the intricate layers of darkness ingrained deep within its foundation.
In fact, the anthem of the land of the free and home of the brave, Bruce actually wrote this song from a place of deep angst after a chance encounter with Ron Kovic, who was enlisted in the Marine Corps and deployed to Vietnam in 1965. In January 1968, during his second tour of duty, he was wounded in combat, resulting in him being paralyzed from the chest down. After returning home, he struggled with physical and emotional trauma, as well as his deep opposition to the war.
In 1980, Kovics 1976 book, “Born on the Fourth of July,” fell into the hands of Springsteen on a cross-country road trip after he found it at a drugstore just outside of Phoenix. Roughly a fortnight later, Springsteen found himself lodged at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles. As fate would have it, Kovic happened to be a guest there as well. Their paths crossed at the poolside, where Kovic extended a heartfelt invitation to Springsteen, urging him to partake in a trip to a Veteran’s Center in Venice. It needed to be enlightening. He saw homelessness and drug problems and post-traumatic stress.
He began writing the song back in 1981, and Springsteen initially titled it “Vietnam,” which he later changed after drawing inspiration from a script he had received from director Paul Schrader. That was for a movie entitled “Born in the USA.” He used the Veterans stories as the basis for the song, and the verses are just an accounting of events. The chorus is a declaration of your birthplace. The song was written at a time when Springsteen was grappling with deep-seated disappointment and a sense of grievance over the harrowing predicament faced by Vietnam veterans upon their return home to America.
He is one of the best-selling musicians in history after having sold more than 150 million albums globally. A few years ago, he sold his music catalog to Sony Music for a mind-boggling $550 million. He has released 20 studio albums, usually with the E Street Band. How about royalties? Sony Music is paying up for the publishing rights to all of these assets, plus the master tapes of these recordings. Bruce’s work reportedly earns nearly $20 million a year from album sales, publishing licenses, media-streaming plays, radio airplay, and more.
Bruce has a long way to go to reach Rihanna’s estimated net worth of $1.7 billion. She is currently the number one richest musician in the world, and most of her net worth has increased by $300 million because of her business. In 2017, Rihanna launched a makeup line called Fenty beauty.
Rose’s Scoop: Paul McCartney’s net worth is $1.2 billion, and Jay-Z’s his net worth is $1.3 billion. Coming in fourth place is Andrew Lloyd Webber with $1.3 billion. Fifth place is P. Diddy at $1 billion. Sixth place is my favorite, Jimmy Buffet with $1 billion.
