It’s impossible to not like Bruce Springsteen. He’s released some of the greatest albums of all-time, is supposedly a stand-up guy, and last night, to celebrate his 63rd birthday, he invited his mom, Adele, onstage at 2 a.m. to sing “Twist and Shout” with him. They also had cake. He’s an endless ball of energy and he’s going as strong now as he was in 1973, when Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was released. He may, indeed, may be the coolest musician ever. In honor of his birthday, here are five reasons why, and also because the mix I sent him that contained nothing but my cover of “Crush on You” as a present was returned in pieces.
Because he’s released a “required listening” album for any music fan for five straight decades:
1970s: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, Born to Run, and Darkness on the Edge of Town
1980s: The River, Nebraska, and Born in the USA
1990s: The Ghost of Tom Joad
2000s: The Rising and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
2010s: Wrecking Ball
Because he’s one of the few musicians worth immortalizing in GIF form:
Because he hangs out with people more awesome than anyone we know:
And Joe Strummer once wrote a letter about him:
BRUCE IS GREAT… IF YOU DONT AGREE WITH THAT YOU’RE A PRETENTIOUS MARTIAN FROM VENUS. BRUCE LOOKS GREAT… LIKE HE’S ABOUT TO CRAWL UNDERNEATH THE CHORDS WITH A SPANNER & SOCK THE STARTER MOTOR ONE TIME SO THAT A ENGINE STARTS UP – HUMMING & READY TO TAKE US ON A GOLDEN RIDE WAY OUT SOMEWHERE IN THE YONDER… BRUCE IS GREAT… BECAUSE HE’LL NEVER LAY DOWN & BE CONQUERED BY HIS PROBLEMS HE’S ALLWAYS READY TO BUST OUT the SHACK & HIT THE TRACK… HIS MUSIC IS GREAT ON A DARK & RAINY MORNING IN ENGLAND, JUST WHEN YOU NEED SOME SPIRIT & SOME PROOF THAT THE BIG WIDE WORLD EXISTS, THE D.J. PUTS ON “RACING IN THE STREETS” & LIFE SEEMS WORTH LIVING AGAIN… LIFE SEEMS TO BE IN CINEMASCOPE AGAIN. BRUCE IS NOT ON AN EGO TRIP… BRUCE IS ACTUALLY INTO THE MUSIC… WE NEED PEOPLE LIKE THIS… A LOT OF RECORDS TODAY ARE MADE BY PEOPLE JUST TO FEED THEIR FAME. BRUCE IS GREAT… THERE AINT NO WHINGING WHINING OR COMPLAINING.. THERE’S ONLY GREAT MUSIC, LYRICS & AN OCEAN OF TALENT. ME? I LOVE SPRINGSTEEN!!!
Because he’s still respected despite the presence of the “Awkward 90s Bruce” Tumblr tag:
Because Hammersmith Odeon London ’75 is the greatest live album of all-time and a master course on how a concert can be more than that — it can be an experience, one that you’ll never forget, even if you weren’t, in the case of Odeon, actually there. Plus, in 1975, when he was 26 years old, Bruce performed for two and a half hours; in 2012, when he’s 63 years old, Bruce is performing for nearly four hours. He’s the best. The Boss, as it were.
