Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
Praised by Rolling Stone as 'the embodiment of rock & roll', with over 140 million records sold worldwide and more than 70 million in the US, Bruce Springsteen is one of the world's best-selling artists. Long recognised as an incomparable live performer, Springsteen and The E Street Band's 2023 international tour marked their first live shows since the conclusion of The River Tour in 2017 - a 14-month run named the top world tour of 2016 by both Billboard and Pollstar - and began in February 2023 with a series of dates in US arenas. The 2023 tour then continued in Europe during the spring and summer, before returning to North America for a second leg of the tour in August.
Supported by The E Street Horns and The E Street Choir, Springsteen and The E Street Band's 2023 European tour sold more than 1.6 million tickets and was widely acclaimed as one of the best shows of the band's career, receiving praise from Billboard as "the biggest show in the world" and "one of the biggest shiw ever" from The Daily Telegraph, as well as five-star reviews from The Times, The Independent, NME and many others. Highlights included a two-night start in Barcelona that 'sparked euphoria', as El Correo attested, as well as performances in front of over 130,000 fans on two dates in London's Hyde Park and a final night in front of over 70,000 in Monza, Italy. The 14-country tour included shows in the cities of Barcelona, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Oslo, London and Copenhagen.
Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, two Golden Globes and a Special Tony Award. In 1999, Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - followed by the full E Street Band in 2014 - and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, he received the Kennedy Center Honor and in 2016 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, by President Barack Obama. In 2023, Springsteen was also honoured by President Joe Biden at the White House with the National Medal of Arts in 2021.
Before the success and accolades, the proud and loyal New Jersey citizen first brought the E Street Band together on the state's beaches and waterfront clubs, and many members are still touring with him today. In 1999, after 10 years apart, Springsteen succeeded the E Street Band for a historic series of shows documented in the HBO special, DVD and album 'Live in New York City'. Since the E Street reunion tour, Springsteen has toured constantly, usually with the band. Notable moments include the Vote for Change charity tour in 2004, The Rising Tour in 2002, which included a record-breaking 10 nights at Giants Stadium, as well as the Wrecking Ball World Tour in 2012 and The River Tour in 2016, both of which were highest-grossing tours in their respective years. According to Pollstar magazine, Springsteen is one of only four artists to have sold more than 20 million tickets since 1980.