Bruce Springsteen set to keynote South By Southwest in March

Bruce Springsteen will be the keynote speaker at 2012″s South By Southwest Music and Media Conference.  The Boss follows in the footsteps of such acts as the late Johnny Cash, Robert Plant, Pete Townshend and Neil Young. He will speak March 15 at the Austin event.

Next year is already shaping up to be a big one for Springsteen and The E Street Band. Two weeks ago, he announced that a new album and tour will occur, and since then, we”ve gotten the European dates (see below) and now this.  Rumors are that there may be some U.S. dates before the European tour starts in May.  Plus, you just know that there”s going to be some awesome secret show in Austin.

Did we mention that “The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story” was nominated for a best boxed or special limited edition package Grammy on Tuesday? 

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S 2012 TOUR DATES:

Date    City    Venue    On Sale         
13 May    Sevilla    Estadio Olimpico    14 Dec   
17 May    Barcelona    Estadio Olimpico Lluis    On Sale   
25 May    Frankfurt    Commerzbank Arena    On Sale   
27 May    Cologne    Energie Stadion    On Sale   
28 May    Landgraf    Pink Pop    3 Mar   
30 May    Berlin    Olympia Stadion    On Sale   
2 June    San Sebastian    Estadio Anoeta    2 Dec   
3 June    Lisbon    Rock in Lisbon    3 Dec   
7 June    Milan    Stadio Meaza    On Sale   
10 June    Florence    Stadio Francesco    On Sale   
11 June    Trieste    Stadio Trieste    On Sale   
17 June    Madrid    Estadio Santago Bernabu    On Sale   
19 June    Montpelier    Park & Suites Arena    On Sale   
21 June    Sunderland    Stadium of Light    On Sale   
22 June    Manchester    Etihad Stadium    On Sale   
24 June    Isle of Wight    Isle Of Wight Festival    On Sale   
4 July    Paris    Bercy    On Sale   
5 July    Paris    Bercy    On Sale   
7 July    Roskilde    Roskilde Festival    On Sale   
9 July    Zurich    Stadium Letzigrund    12 Dec   
11 July    Prague    Synotip Arena    5 Dec   
12 July    Vienna    Ernst Happel Stadium    On Sale   
14 July    London    Hard Rock Calling    3 Dec   
17 July    Dublin    RDS    On Sale   
18 July    Dublin    RDS    On Sale   
21 July    Oslo    Valle Hoven    On Sale   
23 July    Bergen    Koegen    On Sale   
24 July    Bergen    Koegen    On Sale   
27 July    Gothenberg    Ullevi    On Sale   
28 July    Gothenberg    Ullevi    On Sale