Bruce Springsteen

47

Bruce Springsteen : biography

September 23, 1949 –

Springsteen’s next album, titled Magic, was released on October 2, 2007. Recorded with the E Street Band, it featured 10 new Springsteen songs plus "Long Walk Home", performed once with the Sessions band, and a hidden track (the first included on a Springsteen studio release), "Terry’s Song", a tribute to Springsteen’s long-time assistant Terry Magovern, who died on July 30, 2007., Backstreets.com, August 1, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2007. The first single, "Radio Nowhere", was made available for a free download on August 28. On October 7, Magic debuted at No. 1 in Ireland and the UK. Greatest Hits reentered the Irish charts at No. 57, and Live in Dublin almost cracked the top 20 in Norway again. Sirius Satellite Radio also restarted E Street Radio on Channel 10 on September 27, 2007, in anticipation of Magic. Radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications was alleged to have sent an edict to its classic rock stations to not play any songs from the new album, while continuing to play older Springsteen material. However, Clear Channel Adult Alternative (or "AAA") station KBCO did play tracks from the album, undermining the allegations of a corporate blackout.

The Springsteen and E Street Band Magic Tour began at the Hartford Civic Center with the album’s release and continued through North America and Europe. Springsteen and the band performed live on NBC’s Today Show in advance of the opener.

It was announced on November 21, 2007, that longtime friend and founding E Street Band member, Danny Federici would be taking a leave of absence from the Magic Tour to pursue treatment for melanoma. Charles Giordano would fill-in as Federici’s replacement. Springsteen stated: "Danny is one of the pillars of our sound and has played beside me as a great friend for more than 40 years. We all eagerly await his healthy and speedy return."

2008–2011: Deaths of Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons

Federici would make his return to the stage on March 20, 2008, when he appeared for portions of a Springsteen and E Street Band performance at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Less than one month later, on April 17, 2008, Federici died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, having suffered for three years with melanoma. from which he would die in 2008.

Springsteen supported Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, announcing his endorsement in April 2008 and going on to appear at several Obama rallies as well as performing several solo acoustic performances in support of Obama’s campaign throughout 2008, culminating with a November 2 rally where he debuted "Working on a Dream" in a duet with Scialfa. At an Ohio rally, Springsteen discussed the importance of "truth, transparency and integrity in government, the right of every American to have a job, a living wage, to be educated in a decent school, and a life filled with the dignity of work, the promise and the sanctity of home…But today those freedoms have been damaged and curtailed by eight years of a thoughtless, reckless and morally adrift administration."

Following Obama’s electoral victory on November 4, Springsteen’s song "The Rising" was the first song played over the loudspeakers after Obama’s victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park. Springsteen was the musical opener for the Obama Inaugural Celebration on January 18, 2009, which was attended by over 400,000. He performed "The Rising" with an all-female choir. Later he performed Woody Guthrie’s "This Land Is Your Land" with Pete Seeger.

On June 18, 2008, Springsteen appeared live from Europe at the Tim Russert tribute at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to play one of Russert’s favorite songs, "Thunder Road". Springsteen dedicated the song to Russert, who was "one of Springsteen’s biggest fans."

On January 11, 2009, Springsteen won the Golden Globe Award for Best Song for "The Wrestler", from the Mickey Rourke film by the same name. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. After receiving a heartfelt letter from Rourke, Springsteen supplied the song for the film for free.