Bruce Springsteen opptrer på Ullevaal stadion 29. juni 2016.
Our “Why So Many Fans Turned Against Bruce Springsteen'” article takes a look at how the popularity of one of the most famous rock stars of all time dramatically changed in the 2000s. Bruce Springsteen was one of the most loved rock stars of all time in the 20th century. He had a fan base that was so devoted to him. Nonetheless, it seemed Bruce lost a portion of that fan base in the 2000s. We have never seen the popularity of a rock star so dramatically change as it did with Bruce Springsteen’s fans. Here’s what happened….
In the early 1970s, Bruce Springsteen had become a cult artist after the release of his first two albums Greetings from Asbury Park New Jersey and The Wild Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, both of which were released in 1973. However, in 1975 Bruce Springsteen released the album Born to Run which turned him into one of the biggest rock stars in the world. He was the only rock star to have ever appeared on both the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines in the same week. His future manager John Landau was quoted as saying he had seen “the future of rock and roll and its name is Bruce Springsteen.”
In the 1970s, from the Born to Run album on, it was impossible to get a Bruce Springsteen concert ticket. Three years later after some brutal court battles with his former manager Mike Apple, Bruce Springsteen released his follow up album to Born to Run entitled Darkness On The Edge Of Town. That album was followed by the legendary Darkness on the Edge of Town tour in which tickets to see Bruce Springsteen were mail ordered only. Bruce Springsteen was becoming more popular with each year passing by. In 1980 when he released the two record set album The River, he continued to perform in front of sold-out audiences leaving millions of people wishing they could just get a ticket.
Bruce Springsteen’s first six albums were filled with romantic stories of teenage angst and rebellion. They were written by an artist only in his twenties. An artist who had yet lived a long life. Bruce Springsteen’s River album started to show signs of maturity as far as dealing with the issues of marriage and divorce. Yet nothing that he had written was very political at all. When Bruce Springsteen released the album Nebraska audiences began to see signs of an artist digging into history and becoming more politically aware.
That political awareness and a memory of what it was like growing up in the 60s and seeing his friends and neighbors shipped off to Vietnam resulted in the Born in the U.S.A. album. However, the song “Born the U.S.A.” was misinterpreted as being a nationalistic theme. Even a U.S. president named Ronald Reagan misunderstood the song “Born in the U.S.A.” Of course, many of his dedicated and loyal fans who read the lyrics saw that it was a protest song. Nonetheless, in 1984, Bruce Springsteen had become bigger than Elvis Presley. At least that’s what USA Today News printed as a question on one of their front pages.
From a commercial standpoint, Bruce Springsteen was selling out stadiums around the world. He was the most popular musical artist of the time. Stadiums were filled with thousands and thousands of people chanting Born in the U.S.A. while waving flags. Many were not really understanding what Bruce Springsteen was really singing about.
During the Born in U.S.A. tour, Bruce Springsteen set up charitable foundations outside his concert halls. He promoted food banks in every city that he toured. He constantly gave money to charities and promoted help for the poor, the needy, and the Vietnam Veterans. Bruce Springsteen had emerged not just as a powerful force in the music entertainment business, but as a voice that could actually create change.
Bruce Springsteen had become so big that he eventually tried to get out of the spotlight, clearly seeing that his message was being misinterpreted by millions. With a marriage that was falling apart, he retreated for a couple of years and came back with an album about the pain of love, and the disappointments people deal with growing up, getting married raising children and watching it all fall apart. His popularity had waned just a bit, but he was still a massive star. It was still impossible to get tickets for any of the shows.
During the 90s, Bruce Springsteen continued to perform in various charitable shows. However, it was in the 2000s when it all began to change for Bruce Springsteen. Frustrated with the George Bush Presidency of the early 2000s, and what Springsteen called an administration kidnapping certain American freedoms, Bruce Springsteen began to campaign for John Kerry who was running against President George Bush in the President’s bid for a second term.
The campaigning that Bruce Springsteen did for John Kerry did not sit well with Bruce Springsteen’s Republican fans. There are many different viewpoints on this. As a county that is clearly divided politically, both sides should be taken into consideration. Many people are very passionate when it comes to politics. It’s not easy to see one’s musical hero take sides against one’s own political beliefs.
Many fans felt that Bruce Springsteen should just stick to his music and stay out of politics. It’s an age-old question whether should artists get involved in politics or should they just entertain. However, what many failed to realize was that Bruce Springsteen grew up as a teenager in the 60s. Bruce Springsteen grew up idolizing artists like Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and so many more singers and songwriters who stood up against what they believed were unfair government policies. Those songs made an everlasting impression on a young teenage Bruce Springsteen. When it was his turn to give voice to what he believed was a government out of control he stood up and did everything he could to create change.
As John Kerry failed to defeat George Bush so did Bruce Springsteen’s commitment to change. What it did do was lead to a huge backlash against Bruce Springsteen. A backlash that would become permanent among millions of fans who would never forget the images and words of Springsteen standing on stage next to John Kerry opposing a President (Bush)that they actually loved and opposing a way of life they were fine with. Over the years when Bruce Springsteen would stand on stage next to President Obama, more and more fans walked away upset in his endorsement of yet another Democrat.
Bruce Springsteen’s campaigning for John Kerry was not the only reason why many fans turned against the legendary artist. Earlier in the decade Bruce Springsteen had angered many law enforcement people and their families and friends with the song “American Skin (41 Shots).” It was a song he composed in protest of the shooting of Amadou Diallo. The man had been shot 41 times by New York City Police officers after they thought he was reaching for a gun when instead he was just reaching for his wallet. When the song was released, police forces that were in charge of security at many stadiums often asked the Springsteen camp not to perform the song. When Springsteen refused, all the police officers turn their backs on him during the song’s performance. Many in law enforcement never forgave Springsteen for what they felt was an unfair song written about them when they argued they were just defending themselves.
Over the years, more and more fans got turned off from Bruce Springsteen’s dabbling in politics and social issues. However, none of that seemed to bother Bruce Springsteen and cause him to change directions. When the man was on top of the world in 1984 and could have made millions and millions of more money following the Born In The U.S.A album with a similar record he did the complete opposite preferring to follow his heart and artistic intentions instead of the dollar sign. When he witnessed what he believed was injustice in society he spoke out against it in both song and actions.
If you are a person who does not believe that an artist should write about politics or injustice then you should probably never listen to another Bob Dylan album again or at least half of the music of the 1960s. And of course, it’s your right to not want to hear an artist dabble in social and political issues. We all make our own choices in whom we listen to and what we believe in. That’s called freedom, and it belongs to everyone no matter what political party you may follow or believe in.
Why So Many Fans Turned Against Bruce Springsteen published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
Classicrockhistory.com claims ownership of all its original content and Intellectual property under United States Copyright laws and those of all other foreign countries. No one person, business or any organizations is allowed to republish any of our original content anywhere on the web or in print without our permission.
Never, ever, ever will Bruce Springsteen be on my airwaves!
Sums him up
Pleading with people to vote Biden.
Springsteen’s the man & always will be! The voice of the downtrodden. Voice of the blue collar working man. The voice against injustices, like it or not. Those that hate him belong to the haters cult. Nothing will ever change that. You can either embrace hate or empathy! Haters gonna hate, there’s no hope!
I grew up in NJ in the 60’s too. Protesting does not mean hating the USA and supporting Socialists for office. That’s what Bruce did AND he is completely out of touch with grass roots Republicans and independents who support freedom, liberty and the Constitution NOT the fake social justice the Marxists Democrats are forcing on us. People who benefitted from freedom of expression and CAPITALISM like Bruce are complete idiots to support Socialism, it is a slap in our faces and of all our fathers and grandfathers who fought against the German National Socialist Party in WWII, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the Cold War and the Chinese Socialists in Korea and Vietnam. Rock & Roll was not created in Socialist Nations and NEVER would be allowed to flourish in any of them.
Soooooo you prefer those Kremlin ‘bots on the hill warring 24/7 on the working poor?
This article presumes a lot about (former) Springsteen fans that are conservative. I never expect an artist to avoid writing or sing anything political. The problem I have with Springsteen is that he stands beside Kerry (or Clinton or Obama or Biden) and acts as though somehow these people are morally better than conservative candidates which is laughable. Bruce wrote songs about the little guy, the dreamer wanting to break free and overcome. Now he is one of the elite preachers, the exact kind of guy he had no connection to in his earlier writings. People smell bullshit and Bruce is shoveling a whole lot of it. Go ahead support whoever you want Bruce. Go to that well too many times and watch everyone walk away.
FBS, FJB.
Bruce, the voice of the oppressed. The voice of the common man….. now the voice of the elite rich corrupt swamp.
true
Bruce’s record sales and popularity remained relatively undiminished, because his albums still tended to generally top both the US and UK album charts and his tours and concerts still sold out. It wasn’t like his reputation was irreparably tarnished by a serious criminal offence or scandal.
Bruce’s record sales and popularity remained relatively undiminished, because his albums still tended to generally top both the US and UK album charts and his tours and concerts still sold out.
Like I said, we are big Bruce fans here always have been and always will be. This article is about the fans that turned against him and why.
This is silly! Conservatives just think they are like artist, athletes and progressive people of growth. What they dont realize, is why they actually like an artist. Many of us like him even more!!!!
I think you might have missed the point that the article is actually pro-Springsteen.
Nah
Many white rock fans are just racists and Republicans as the comments above illustrate. Springsteen has always been courageous and outspoken and to the fans who deserted him after 41 Shots-good riddance.
It is ironic that Bruce has now joined forces with the corrupt corporate/political elite. Trump was vilified because he was an outsider. The beltway folks and the Wall St. folks all trend democratic. He is not self-aware enough to realize that he supports the status quo.
As for his grasp of economics: he excoriated the NJ governor for lowering taxes during the last recession. But study after study shows that lowering taxes creates jobs.
Rock stars were once rebels. Now, sadly, they are the mouthpiece of the corporate/political elite.
The truth is that all his concerts in Europe, to 2023, are sold out! Not a good new for the Trump dogs, of course!
I was happy to see the older Bruce finally take a stand for the more liberal side. The right wing had gotten to be so far right that we were just looking bad to the rest of the world. Our new administration has restored that. The right got way right of both GW Bush and W. They were appalled. So I see nothing wrong with him showing that he was trying to pull it back in that direction at the risk of losing millions of fans and dollars. That takes guts.
Used to be a big fan of Bruce, until he started doing free concerts for Hillary Clinton. Bruce is a liberal elitist, just like those in power in Washington. He shares nothing in common with the working people of America. Bruce is a shrewd capitalist who only cares about his bank account. He is a fraud. The man is completely out of touch with the people who paid for his lifestyle.