0 Who Is Bruce Springsteen

Who Is Bruce Springsteen? by Stephanie Sable

Who Is Bruce Springsteen? DECEMBER 1964 It was a cold winter day in northern New Jersey. A teenage boy brought his mother to the local music store. There, in the front window, was a black and gold electric guitar. The boy wanted it so much. He loved to play the guitar. But it cost sixty dollars. Back then, that was a lot of money. It was more money than his mother had. So they left the store without the guitar. But that is not the end of the story. A few days later, the boy's mother went to the bank and took out a loan. On Christmas Day, her son woke up to find the guitar waiting for him under the tree.

That teenage boy was Bruce Springsteen. And he grew up to become one of the most famous rock-and-roll stars ever. For forty years, people have been inspired by the messages in his songs. They are songs about the joy of being alive and the pain of a broken heart. They offer comfort during hard times. They make people proud to be Americans.

Bruce Springsteen never forgot that special guitar. It changed everything. In fact, when he was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, the first person he thanked was his mother. He thanked her for buying him that guitar and, most importantly, for believing in him.