Bruce Springsteen has undoubtedly secured his place in the rock scene as the idol of many people. However, that’s not the case for his own kids, judging by the singer’s statements during his recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. In fact, they did not even know about his songs for a very long time, and when they did, they ignored them.
“At first, they didn’t know any Bruce Springsteen music for a very, very, very long time,” he said, remembering that his children were unaware of the music he makes for a very long time. He noted, “Strangers would come up to us, and I used to always have this thing I’d tell them; I’d say, ‘Look, my job is… I’m Barney for adults. All right? And that’s why people keep coming up to us.’”
The rocker continued, “And then eventually one of my children came home from kindergarten and said, ‘Dad, what is ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’?’ I said, ‘Well, the song that dad wrote.’ [He said] ‘Play it for me.’ I got my guitar, and I started ‘Tenth Avenue.’ [He said] ‘Play it for real,’ [I said] ‘Okay.’ I played him the song, and he got it. And then totally ignored that part of my life for most of the rest of my life to this day.”
He is also aware that most kids would not like their parents to be this famous. Springsteen said, “You know, they get a kick out of it sometimes. But for the most part, there is…I always say no child wants to see 50,000 people cheer their parents. You may want to see 50,000 people boo your parents [laughing]. That would be fun. That would be interesting. But who wants to see these young people cheer their parents? No kid does. No kid. So we have a very peaceful coexistence where they pretend it never happened. And, you know, they picked their own heroes. They don’t need me.”
Bruce Springsteen and his long-term partner, Patti Scialfa, welcomed their first child, Evan, in 1990. The year after Bruce and Patti’s marriage, their second child, Jessica, was born. Samuel, their youngest son, was born to the couple in 1994. Although the singer has always lived a life in front of the lights, he has managed to keep his kids out of the spotlight.
It seems that if some people said ‘Dancing in the Dark,’ Springsteen’s kids would probably stare blankly at their faces. Because he was able to raise them to protect their privacy, and his children did not know about his music for many years. When they did, they weren’t that interested. Springsteen also mentioned this in 2017 and described it as a ‘healthy disinterest.’
All of Springsteen’s children are now grown and have already carved a path for themselves. Evan, his first child, also stopped a bit in his father’s way. You can occasionally see him singing on stage with his father. He is also a good songwriter. Jessica, on the other hand, has chosen to continue her journey as a rider and is really good at her job. Sam Ryan, the youngest one, decided to be a firefighter and accepted the duty to work for Jersey City in 2020.
