1949-
Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist

Jersey.

From the moment he stood in his New Jersey bedroom with his first guitar in hand, thirteen- year-old Bruce Springsteen was obsessed with rock 'n' roll. Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, Springsteen grew up in a lower-class section of Freehold, near the fading beach resort of Asbury Park. While his father struggled to support his family with a series of blue-collar jobs and his mother worked as a legal secretary to help the family finances, Springsteen grew up feeling insecure and alienated, chafing at the restrictions of school and constantly at odds with his father, who did not approve of his son's musical ambitions. By listening endlessly to his favorite rock and roll songs from the 1950s, Springsteen taught himself to play the guitar and began playing with bands — first the Rogues in 1963 and by 1965 the Castiles — when...