Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen during the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction ceremony.Photo:Bryan Bedder/Variety via Getty
Bryan Bedder/Variety via Getty
Bruce Springsteenis honoring his wifePatti Scialfaas she joins a storied group of New Jersey icons.
The musician, 74, paid tribute to his wife of 32 years as she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Sunday. The surprise appearance comes after Springsteen was forced to cancel a number of shows due to apainful stomach illnessand has largely been out of the public eye.
Scialfa was inducted alongside Tiki Barker, Sue Wicks, David Chase, Tony Orlando, Finn Wentwroth, Josh Weston, Steve Adubato, Sr., Charles Edison, George Shultz, George Segal and Dorothy Porter Wesley.
Recalling meeting Scialfa, 70, in the ‘80s at the historic music club The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Springsteen told the crowd, “I met Patti at Stone Pony. Where else? She was sitting in with the house band, Cats on a Smooth Surface, and I heard that voice of hers and I wondered, ‘Who is that girl?’ I went to find out.”
Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa.Taylor Hill/Getty
Taylor Hill/Getty
“We went out for cheeseburgers at The Inkwell in my ‘60 Corvette and the die was set for many cheeseburgers to come,” Springsteen, who was inducted into the N.J. Hall of Fame in 2008, added of their first date.
The singer went on to gush about his other half, who joined his backing band, theE Street Band, in the early ‘80s, as “a street-smart, fascinating, lovely, sexy, beautiful redhead with a sound completely her own.”
“The E Street Band was good at many things, but singing harmony was not one of them,” he said. “So when I met Patti, I felt like I found my secret weapon. In 1984, I asked her to join the E Street Band.”
Tony Orlando, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt and Patti Scialfa.Bryan Bedder/Variety via Getty
Springsteen also joked that Scialfa would be even more successful if she hadn’t married him as he opened up about her albums and her being a “second to none” songwriter with “deft lyrical work.”
“She is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member inducted with the E Street Band in 2014. She just finished her fourth album and it will be released in the coming year,” Springsteen continued.
Bruce Springsteen.Bryan Bedder/Variety via Getty
“[She did] Broadway with me in 2017, graced my stage with a lovely voice. For 20 months of our run, she was a high point of the show, and she did all this while parenting three now 30-plus-year-olds and becoming a grandmother.”
“That was really a lot of compliments, all in a row,” Scialfa said as she thanked her husband when she joined him on stage. She then joked, “I’m going to record him … saying this before I go to sleep or ask him to say it again.”
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The duo, who married in 1991, then walked offstage together as Springsteen placed an arm around his wife’s back.
In September, the “Born to Run” singerannouncedthat he was in the midst of treatment for peptic ulcer disease and would have to push back his tour dates for that month. Later in September, however, Springsteen thenpushed back the remainder of his 2023 tour dateswith The E Street Band to 2024.
The news was shared in a statement posted to the rock legend’ssocial media.
“Bruce Springsteen has continued to recover steadily from peptic ulcer disease over the past few weeks and will continue treatment through the rest of the year on doctor’s advice,” the statement said. “With this in mind, and out of an abundance of caution, all remaining 2023 tour dates for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be postponed until 2024.”
source: people.com
