Latest news with #BruceSpringsteen
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Too risky at the moment': A Springsteen covers band has been advised not to play in his hometown
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. It's a well known fact that Bruce Springsteen is a Democrat. Most specifically he's a close personal friend of ex-US Democratic president Barack Obama. And while many stars – particularly in the US – believe that music and politics shouldn't mix, Springsteen has never been shy about speaking his mind. Now, those opinions have had an unlikely consequence. Appearing in Manchester on 14 May, kicking off his E-Street band's European tour, rock's most famous working class hero told the audience: 'In my home, the America I love – the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years – is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration. "Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring! 'The richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world's poorest children to sickness and death. They're taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom,' Springsteen implored. And it didn't take long for his words to resonate with the Republican President back home: 'I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States," Trump said on social media. "Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK. 'This dried out 'prune' of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that's just 'standard fare.' Then we'll all see how it goes for him!' With Springsteen currently on tour in Europe – a continent that has recently been rocked by Trump's turnarounds on NATO and random tariff wrath – it's likely he was on safe ground. However, back in the US, The Boss's rabble-rousing soon found a target closer to home. No Surrender, a Springsteen covers band currently on the road in the US to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Boss's Born To Run, had been booked to play at Riv's Toms River Hub, in Toms River, New Jersey, on 30 May. New Jersey, of course, famously being Springsteen's hometown. However, on Sunday, the band received correspondence from the venue's owner that an appearance by the band was now 'too risky at the moment'. 'This is not political for us at all,' Springsten sound-alike Brad Hobicorn told 'We're just a cover band that's trying to make some money and people rely on it financially. We're the ones really getting hurt.' Hobicorn even offered to have his band play a non-Springsteen, classic-rock cover set instead but owner Tony Rivoli refused to pay the agreed $2,500 for a more generic covers band. 'Unfortunately it's just too much money,' he wrote in text messages obtained by the outlet. 'I wanted to do the Springsteen tribute for that money… We would have done well but now because Bruce can't keep his mouth shut we're screwed. 'Whenever the national anthem plays, my bar stands and is in total silence, that's our clientele. Toms River is red and won't stand for his bulls__t.' Rivoli later insisted that it was the band themselves that had chosen not to play in Toms River, and they told that ultimately they did not want to perform there due to 'negative vibes' and 'a safety concern.' The band have now been given an alternative venue to play and are currently scheduled to be appearing at New Jersey's Headliner Oasis in Neptune Township instead. Springsteen met Obama in 2008 when he was on the campaign trail prior to his first run as president. The two shared similar, working class upbringings, dreams, aspirations and opinions as to what should be done and soon Springsteen was a regular at high profile fund-raisers and, in 2020, the pair even produced a podcast together. Renegades: Born in the USA, a series of conversations between Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen saw the two talk about 'their lives, music, and enduring love of America – despite all its challenges'. 'We are both creatures stamped Born in the USA. Guided by our families, our deep friendships and the moral compass inherent in our nation's history, we press forward, guarding the best of us while retaining a compassionate eye for the struggles of our still young nation,' Springteen told The Guardian in 2021.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
‘So polarised': Bruce Springsteen's anti-Trump comments divide US fans
As the lead singer of a Bruce Springsteen cover band, Brad Hobicorn had been looking forward to performing at Riv's Toms River Hub in New Jersey on Friday. Then came a text message from the bar's owner, saying the gig was cancelled. Why? Because the real Bruce Springsteen had lambasted Donald Trump. 'He said to me his customer base is redder than red and he wishes Springsteen would just shut his mouth,' Hobicorn recalls by phone. 'It was clear that this guy was getting caught up in that and didn't want to lose business. The reality is we would have brought a huge crowd out there: new customers that are Springsteen fans that want to see a band locally.' The culture wars have arrived in New Jersey, the state of Frank Sinatra, Jon Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, comedian Jon Stewart and TV hit The Sopranos. Springsteen – revered for songs such as Born In The USA, Glory Days, Dancing In The Dark and Born To Run – has long been a balladeer of the state's blue collar workers. But last year, many of those same workers voted for the president. Now their split loyalties are being put to the test. Opening a recent tour in Manchester in Britain, Springsteen told his audience: 'The America I love, the America I've written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.' He repeated the criticisms at later concerts and released them on a surprise EP. Trump responded by calling Springsteen highly overrated. 'Never liked him, never liked his music or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy — just a pushy, obnoxious JERK,' he wrote on social media. 'This dried out prune of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back in the Country.' Trump, 78, also posted a video edited to make it seem as if he had hit 75-year-old Springsteen with a golf drive. Trump called for a 'major investigation' into Springsteen, Beyoncé and other celebrities, alleging that they had been paid millions of dollars to endorse his Democratic opponent in the 2024 election, Kamala Harris. Harris beat Trump by six percentage points in New Jersey, significantly less than Joe Biden's 16-point winning margin in 2020. In Toms River, a township along the Jersey Shore, Trump received twice as many votes as Harris, helping explain why Riv's Toms River Hub got cold feet about hosting a Springsteen cover band. The bar and restaurant cancelled the 30 May gig by No Surrender, a nine-person band that has played Springsteen songs for more than two decades, despite it being scheduled months in advance. Contacted by the Guardian, owner Tony Rivoli declined to comment. Hobicorn, 59, from Livingston, New Jersey, says the band suggested a compromise of playing classic rock other than Springsteen's but Rivoli rejected the idea. Hobicorn also received some criticism from Springsteen fans for offering the partial climbdown. But he explains: 'That's where I made the point that not everybody in the band is aligned with Bruce Springsteen's politics. Everybody's got a different point of view but that's OK. You can still be in a Springsteen cover band and not 100% agree with everything he says.' He adds: 'My band is split. We're half red, half blue. We have civilised conversations and then we go and play the music and it's never been about politics. This thing got made into a political situation.' Springsteen is not new to the political arena. When former president Ronald Reagan referenced the singer's 'message of hope' at a campaign stop, Springsteen wondered if Reagan had listened to his music and its references to those left behind in the 1980s economy. Later, he was a regular presence on Barack Obama's presidential election campaign. He has also challenged his audience politically beyond presidential endorsements. Born in the USA told of a Vietnam war veteran who lost his brother in the war and came home to no job prospects and a bleak future. My Hometown described the kind of economic decline and discontent that Trump has exploited: 'Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores / Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more.' Springsteen's 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad bluntly documented the lives of struggling immigrants, including those from Mexico and Vietnam. His 2001 song American Skin (41 Shots), criticised the shooting by New York City police officers of an unarmed Guinean immigrant named Amadou Diallo, angering some of the blue-collar segments of his fanbase. But taking on Trump is a cause of a different magnitude. His 'Make America great again' (Maga) movement has proved uniquely polarising in US culture, forcing many people to choose whether they are on the blue team or red team. The clothes people wear, the food they eat and the music they listen to have become signifiers of Maga. Even some in New Jersey, where Springsteen grew up and now lives in the town of Colts Neck, are having doubts. Hobicorn reflects: 'As the country has become more and more divided, there's certainly a real disdain for Springsteen and his politics in New Jersey. Most New Jerseyans are supportive of who he is, what he's done for the state, what he's done for our culture, what he's done for music. 'I feel like it's not a lot of stuff in the middle like, yeah, he's OK. It's one way or the other. In New Jersey it's mostly in a positive way: people love and respect Bruce for everything. But some are going to paint the picture of him: he's a billionaire and he doesn't give a crap about anybody but himself. That's what they do.' No Surrender has found an alternative venue. After the cancellation of its Toms River gig, Randy Now's Man Cave, a record shop in Hightstown, New Jersey, stepped in and will host the band on 20 June. The shop will producers flyers and T-shirts that say: 'Free speech is live at Randy Now's Man Cave.' Owner Randy Ellis, 68, says: 'The state is proud of Bruce Springsteen. He should become the state bird for all I know.' But he admits: 'In the last election, Harris won the state but there were many more people for Trump than I ever expected in New Jersey. It's so polarised now. We may have people in front of my store saying Springsteen sucks and all that. Who knows?' At a time when many of Trump's critics have kept quiet, Springsteen is arguably his leading cultural foe. In 2020 he said: 'a good portion of our fine country, to my eye, has been thoroughly hypnotised, brainwashed by a conman from Queens' – knowing the outer-borough reference still stung a man who built his own tower in Manhattan. Dan DeLuca, who grew up in Ventnor, New Jersey, and is now a popular music critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, says: 'The thing about Bruce that people love is this idea of being a truth teller. You see what you see and you need to speak on it. There's a lot of people who are muttering things or speaking in private about what's going on in America who are not speaking out for whatever reason. Maybe they don't believe that politics and art should mix. Maybe they're worried about their fanbase or something. 'As he said, there's a lot of crazy shit going on and it's happened since he was last on the road. It's good that he's speaking his mind and he's speaking what a lot of people want to hear but maybe are afraid to hear and it's maybe giving some people courage.' But as the case of No Surrender demonstrated, there is a significant minority in New Jersey who see things differently in this hyper-partisan era. DeLuca reflects: 'I grew up in south Jersey, which is less densely populated, less urban, and it's Trump country now. 'Springsteen has been true to what he sings about and the people he sings about and the blue collar concerns but then he's open to target because he's rich or hangs out with Obama. They probably think that Bruce has turned into a knucklehead socialist or something. I'm sure there are plenty of people who probably do have some divided loyalties.'
The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Liam Naylor on turning down Bruce Springsteen to answer Scotland call
Liam Naylor took the good news/bad news approach when telling dad, Phil, that he was returning to the Scotland squad after a two-year absence. The downside was that his old man would need to find someone else to take his ticket for the Bruce Springsteen gig they were meant to be going to together at Anfield this week. That, however, was a small price to pay for the chance to reignite his international aspirations. 'It's good to be back,' said the Liverpool-born batter. 'I didn't know what to expect as all I knew was I was going to get a phone call but didn't know whether it was going to be, 'you're in' or 'you're not in'. 'Then I saw Steve Snell [Cricket Scotland's Head of Performance] calling me. And he just said, 'you've scored plenty of runs and bashed the door down and there are only so many times we can say no to you!' 'I thought I would surprise my dad with the news by telling him first of all that he was going to have to sell my ticket for Bruce Springsteen. And when he started to act all disappointed I told him why. And then at that point he was delighted for me. 'So, I'm buzzing to be back involved. I'll try see Springsteen another time. I'm much happier being around the lads and back in the squad.' Naylor's return for the forthcoming twin series against the Netherlands and Nepal – the first a 50-over mini-tournament at Forfarshire, the second a clutch of T20 matches at Clydesdale – has been long overdue. The former under-19 cap's full debut came against Namibia in Nepal at the start of 2023, the series in which Scotland clinched the previous edition of the Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament they are again deeply immersed in. That looked to be the start of things but instead the 23-year-old has had to be patient until the glut of runs he was chalking up for club side RH Corstorphine became too vast to ignore. 'It's probably not a surprise to me that it's been a while since my last cap,' he admits honestly. 'After the Nepal series in 2023 I moved to Watsonians and didn't really have the greatest of years. 'So last year and this year it was just about trying to get back scoring runs again with RHC, the Scotland A team and things like going down to play for MCC recently against Nepal. 'And it's going alright. Some of the lads were like, 'you surely can't start as well as you did last year'. And I probably haven't but I'm still pleased. It's just been about backing yourself and narrowing it down to make the game as simple as possible. If the ball is there to be hit, then try and hit it.' Nepal has featured regularly on Naylor's international journey so far and he is looking forward to more jousts with them in the weeks ahead. 'Nepal was a cool place and I'll always have good memories because I made my Scotland debut there,' he adds. 'It's definitely one of my favourite countries in the world and I would love to go back. They seem to have fans everywhere. At that MCC game there must have been 70 or so. They seem mad for cricket.' The same can't be said for much of Liverpool where, like Scotland, the sport tends to live in football's shadow. Naylor, though, was undeterred, especially with his local club based just down the road from where he was brought up. 'The reason I got into cricket was because my first club was Alder Sports Club which was a 30-second walk from my house,' he reveals. 'I'm pretty sure I just walked past it one Friday night when junior training was on and I was like, 'I want to do that'. 'I started going, loved it and started watching cricket on the telly. And ever since then, yeah, it's been cricket, cricket, cricket. Obviously it's not big in Liverpool when you're growing up. But at that time, I played every sport going and so I gave cricket a go, too. And cricket and football were the ones that stuck. 'It's probably like in Scotland – there are more people who are into cricket in Liverpool than you might think. They just don't always want to admit it!' Naylor's Scottish connection comes from mum, Marie, who hails from Campbeltown. 'I was there for Easter and try and get across as much as possible,' he adds. 'My friends in Edinburgh love going too just because there are a few golf courses ranked in the top 50 in the UK. I'm now a member of Machrihanish and the lads are always asking if I can get them on. 'But my mum was ecstatic when I got called up for Scotland. The funny thing is she can never watch me play. She'll sit there and look at the floor, whilst my dad does laps of the pitch! But they were buzzing when I got back in the squad.' His old man still jokingly blames Naylor for ending his own cricket career. 'As I came through and started playing senior cricket, my dad started playing with me on a Sunday and then he became the Sunday captain when I was about 16. 'I remember batting with him one time. He called him through for a quick single but fell and dislocated his shoulder. He hasn't played cricket since – and he's never let me forget about it!'
Irish Independent
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Today's top TV and streaming choices: A Bruce Springsteen evening, House of Gucci and Bono's Stories of Surrender
Pick of the week: Bruce Springsteen Night BBC Two, from 8.30pm Here's a treat for fans of 'the Boss' – an entire evening dedicated to the man himself and his amazing songs. It begins with Bruce Springsteen at the BBC, a delve into the broadcaster's archive for clips featuring the performer in action. It's followed at 9.30pm by arguably the programme of the night – When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain, a brand-new documentary exploring his first tour on this side of the Atlantic. Springsteen was just 26 when he arrived in London in November 1975 for sold-out performances at the Hammersmith Odeon, during which he played tracks from his then new album Born to Run. However, in an interview recorded for the programme, he reveals how disappointed he was – with himself: 'I went to a party that was supposed to celebrate my triumph, but I felt I'd been terrible and so I was embarrassed to even go in... I had PTSD from the first Hammersmith show!' Celebrity fans Michael Palin, Rob Brydon, Sting and Peter Gabriel, as well as E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt, are on hand to offer their opinions. Afterwards, at 10.35pm, there's a chance to see the gig itself ahead of Bruce Springsteen: A Secret History at 12.45am, in which the Boss can once again be heard discussing his life and career. Finally, the night ends with Blinded by the Light at 1.45am, which charts the teen years of an avid fan. Returning to Silence RTÉ One, 5.30pm Comedian Tommy Tiernan and Myozan Kodo Kilroy, a priest at the Dublin Zen Centre, discuss the benefits of Zen Buddhist meditation, revealing how it has given their lives a positive boost, awakening an inner peace crucial to their wellbeing. Britain's Got Talent: Live Final Virgin Media One, 7pm It's time to find out who will be this year's winner. But first, those remaining in the competition perform once again in front of the judges including Alesha Dixon, each desperate to win the cash prize and a chance to appear at the Royal Variety Performance. RTÉ2, 7pm ADVERTISEMENT We're off to the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, for the final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan. PSG's one and only previous appearance in the showpiece match came in 2020, when they lost to Bayern Munich. Can they finally lift the trophy, or will three-time winners Inter prove too strong? House of Gucci RTÉ One, 9.20pm Ridley Scott's outlandish true-life drama focuses on the marriage between the fashion house's heir and an ambitious woman from humble origins. It begins as a love story, but spirals into disaster. Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and Al Pacino star. The Blues Brothers TG4, 9.40pm Star-studded comedy with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as criminal siblings who reform their old band and hit the road in the hope of raising the money needed to save the orphanage where they grew up. However, chaos follows them everywhere they go. Dept. Q Netflix, streaming now DCI Carl Morck may be an excellent investigator, but there's no hiding from the fact that he's a terrible co-worker. There's the small matter of his scathing sarcasm, which has left him without a single friend in the Edinburgh police force. Then there's the rather more serious issue of him having fatally shot a young officer and permanently injured his partner. Unsurprisingly enough, following this tragic turn of events, Morck is relegated to Department Q: a cold-case unit which was created as a publicity stunt. Although the force is thrilled to see Carl go, he soon sets about assembling a group of outcasts who are all keen to prove themselves. Yes, it does sound a bit like Slow Horses, which is quite the gauntlet for Netflix to throw. Only time will tell if it's worthy of comparison. With yer man from Leap Year (Matthew Goode) essentially playing a hybrid of Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb and Jack Lowden's River Cartwright, I wouldn't hold my breath. Bono: Stories of Surrender Apple TV+, streaming now Behold Bono's one-man stage show, exploring the personal experiences that have shaped him as a son, father, husband and activist. Oh, and as one of the planet's biggest rock stars. If Owen Wilson's signature shtick is more to your liking, The Stick lands Wednesday. Good Boy Prime Video, streaming now In order to combat crime in a perilous underworld, a group of former medal-winning athletes exchange the podium for police badges. In an exciting, action-packed ride, Yun Dong-ju (Park Bo-gum) and his group battle a formidable criminal syndicate. Also on Prime Video, we have season 2 of The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, courtesy of producers Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne. The Better Sister Prime Video, streaming now D'you know what society needs? More portrayals of women being pitted against each other. Based on Alafair Burke's novel, however, this eight-part thriller attempts to turn things. When media executive Chloe (Jessica Biel) and her estranged sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks) are reunited after a murder, they must unravel long-buried family secrets to uncover the truth. A Widow's Game Netflix, streaming now Picture it: August 2017. In a Valencia parking lot, a man is found stabbed seven times. The city's Homicide Group, led by a veteran inspector, races to solve the case, which appears to be a crime of passion. Their investigation soon takes a shocking turn, pointing to an unlikely suspect: Maje, the victim's seemingly sweet and stoic widow, married to him for less than a year. Mission: Impossible Fest Disney+, streaming now
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bono Weighs in on Trump-Bruce Springsteen Drama: 'There's Only One Boss in America'
Bono is weighing in on the Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump drama, as well as responding to the president's call for a 'major investigation' into Bono's support for Kamala Harris. The U2 frontman recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where the host asked him, 'Whose side are you on, Trump or Bruce Springsteen?' More from The Hollywood Reporter Sean "Diddy" Combs' Assistant of 8 Years Accuses Him of Multiple Sexual Assaults During Testimony Sean "Diddy" Combs' Ex-Assistant Testifies He Sexually Assaulted Her and Used Violence to Get His Way John Fogerty Is Releasing "John's Versions" of Creedence Clearwater Revival Classics After letting out a laugh, Bono responded, 'I think there's only one Boss in America,' referring to Springsteen's nickname, evoking loud applause from the audience. The Trump-Springsteen drama started when the rock star slammed the Trump administration during a concert in the U.K., telling the audience that the U.S. is 'currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.' While the president vaguely threatened him in response, Springsteen has since doubled down on his claims at another concert. Jimmy Kimmel later brought up Trump's rant that he posted on his social media platform Truth Social earlier this month, calling for an investigation into major recording acts and entertainment notables — including Bono, Springsteen, Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey — who showed their support for Harris during her presidential campaign. 'I don't want to cut in on your action because I know the president at 1 a.m., or 1:30, or whatever that was, is usually thinking about you,' Bono quipped, referencing Kimmel and Trump's years-long feud. 'But two points I'll make,' the Grammy-winning musician continued. 'One, to be the company of Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, and Oprah — I'll play tambourine in that band. And two, U2 and I have never paid or played a show to support any candidate from any party. It has never happened.' He later joked that Trump's Truth Social platform 'seems to be pretty antisocial' and is 'not very true a lot of the time.' Bono also offered Kimmel his thoughts on why he thinks he was among the artists Trump has targeted. He said it 'might be the fact that I co-founded the One Campaign, which is, by design, bipartisan.' According to its website, the nonprofit advocates for economic and health opportunities in Africa. 'We've got a lot of very religious Catholics, Evangelicals, Conservatives who are very, very, very angry with the person that they voted into office having demolished instruments of mercy and compassion like USAID [United States Agency for International Development] or PEPFAR [United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief], which can save 26 million lives of people who have AIDS around the world,' the 'With Or Without You' singer added. 'That's the America that we love. That's the America that we all want to be part of. And they are not happy, and there will be trouble.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
