Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born 23 September 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades, most of which feature the E Street Band, his backing band since 1972. He is associated with the heartland rock genre. Springsteen released his first two albums, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." and "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle", in 1973. He gained international recognition with "Born to Run" (1975). This was followed by "Darkness on the Edge of Town" (1978) and "The River" (1980), which was his first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. After the solo acoustic album "Nebraska" (1982), he recorded "Born in the U.S.A." (1984) with the E Street Band, which became his most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums globally. Springsteen largely employed session musicians for the recording of his next three albums, "Tunnel of Love" (1987), "Human Touch" (1992), and "Lucky Town" (1992). He reunited the E Street Band for "Greatest Hits" (1995), and released the acoustic album "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (1995) and the EP "Blood Brothers" (1996) as solo projects. Following a reunion tour, Springsteen released "The Rising" (2002), dedicated to the victims of the September 11 attacks. He then released two folk-oriented albums, "Devils & Dust" (2005) and "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions" (2006), his first album of cover songs. Subsequent releases included "Magic" (2007), "Working on a Dream" (2009), "Wrecking Ball" (2012), and "High Hopes" (2014). From 2017 to 2021, he performed "Springsteen on Broadway", a series of shows featuring songs and stories from his 2016 autobiography. He released the solo album "Western Stars" in 2019, "Letter to You" with the E Street Band in 2020, and a solo cover album "Only the Strong Survive" in 2022. With "Letter to You", Springsteen became the first artist to achieve a top-five album in six consecutive decades. In 2026, he released the politically themed song "Streets of Minneapolis", which reached the iTunes Top Songs chart. Springsteen has sold over 140 million records worldwide. His awards include 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2013, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. Rolling Stone ranked him 23rd on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2010, describing him as "the embodiment of rock and roll". Between 2023 and 2025, he became one of only five artists to gross over $2.3 billion from touring with the E Street Band. Studio albums Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973) Born to Run (1975) Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) The River (1980) Nebraska (1982) Born in the U.S.A. (1984) Tunnel of Love (1987) Human Touch (1992) Lucky Town (1992) The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) The Rising (2002) Devils & Dust (2005) We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) Magic (2007) Working on a Dream (2009) Wrecking Ball (2012) High Hopes (2014) Western Stars (2019) Letter to You (2020) Only the Strong Survive (2022)