Bruce Springsteen Says He and Wife Patti Scialfa Often ‘Didn’t Expose’ Their Kids to Fame While They Were Growing Up

Bruce Springsteen gets candid about what it was like raising three kids as a rock star father.

The 20-time Grammy winner, 75, shared a new interview with The Times that he and his wife Patti Scialfa (71) often “didn’t expose” their three children to fame when they were growing up. The couple, whose relationship extended to the stage as part of the E Street Band, have three children: Evan, 34, Jessica, 32, and Samuel, 30.

“When they were little, if they heard me on the radio, they’d say, ‘Bruce Springsteen!’ It was their way of separating their father from this abstract character who also seemed to be a part of their lives,” Springsteen told the newspaper.

“A lot of times, we just didn’t expose them to it,” he added. “They came to the concerts a few times before going back to their rooms to play video games, and they didn’t know much about it other than what they might have read.”

Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen Golden Globes 2024

Todd Williamson/CBS via Getty

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As Springsteen explained, their children “wanted to bring their friends” to their shows as they grew up, but were still able to “choose their own lives,” have “their own jobs” and later find “their own partners and families.” in life, “all at a nice distance from the strangeness of my job”.

The “Glory Days” singer also opened up about his relationship with Scialfa in his latest interview, describing his wife of 33 years as a “really good songwriter” who “didn’t get credit for living with the air-out-of-the-room street attention w—-.”

“She was in trouble there,” Springsteen said jokingly. “She has a beautiful record coming out soon, but she’s had a harder time getting recognition for her work because of who she’s married to.”

While Springsteen said he’s “the captain of that particular ship” when the pair perform together, he admitted that when he gets off stage, he’s “the chauffeur driving the kids to school at 6 in the morning.”

“I’ve known Pats, off and on, since she was 17 and we had a steady relationship as friends until we got together as a couple in 1988, when I was 38 and she was 34,” he said. “It worked out pretty well… except for the fact that I tend to take up a lot of space.”

by Springsteen and Patti Scialfa in March 2020.

Taylor Hill/Getty

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All of Springsteen’s children have found their jobs in life — Evan is a musician, Jessica is a professional horse rider, and Samuel is a firefighter. Last year, when he spoke with The The New York Times about his Springsteen on Broadway production, the boss said his children “have shown a healthy lack of interest in our work throughout the years.”

“They had their musical heroes, they had their own music that they were interested in,” he said. “They’d be pretty deadpan if someone mentioned the title of my song.”

“I always looked at it as a job well done,” he added later. “Like I said in the book [memoir, Born to Run]I know a lot of kids who wouldn’t mind seeing 50,000 people booing their parents. But I don’t know how many people would like to see these people making their parents happy. That’s just not right!”

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In August, Springsteen dismissed rumors of retirement and a farewell tour when he addressed his crowd at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. “We’re not going on a farewell tour bulls—,” he said in a fan-filmed clip.

“Hell no… Goodbye to what? Thousands of people shouting your name? Yeah, I want to stop it,” Springsteen added. “That’s it. That’s all it takes. I’m not going anywhere.”

The E Street Band will next perform in Montreal on October 31st, before heading to England, Germany, France, Spain and beyond as the group hits the road in the summer of 2025.

Travel Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band arrives on Hulu and Disney+ on October 25.

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Source: HIS Education