Out of all the days to be sick, unfortunately for Bruce Springsteen and his wife, Patti Scialfa, the day landed on the date of the inaugural American Music Honours awards show.
The show happened to be a fundraiser for the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University.
Shortly after the show kicked off, the Archives' executive director Bob Santelli announced to an audience of approximately 700 people that the couple would not be attending due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.
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"It broke our hearts around six a.m. this morning when I got a call that two of the most important people who were supposed to be here, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, unfortunately came down with COVID," he said
"They're alive. Don't overreact," added the show's host, Jon Stewart. "You can still see them in concert. They're home sitting by the fire eating French onion soup."
Despite not being able to attend physically, Springsteen made sure to make his presence known, taping two videos to present awards to Darlene Love and fellow E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt.
Stewart joked that Springsteen "with COVID looks better than me," adding that he appeared "eerily healthy."
"Aren't you supposed to have sniffles or something?" he said. "We shut down the world for a year and a half."
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Governor Phil Murphy issued a proclamation at the inaugural American Music Honours event declaring September 23, Springsteen's birthday, "Bruce Springsteen Day" in the Garden State.
"There's been 14 administrations in New Jersey since Springsteen started performing," Murphy said. "I can't believe it's taken this long."
Springsteen fans around the world have celebrated the date for years. The honour was bestowed partly because Springsteen of Freehold created "the soundtrack to our glory days," reads the proclamation.
"It's not a rest area, but it's nice," quipped Stewart, an obvious reference to the Jon Bon Jovi rest stop and others in New Jersey. "It's not like taking a whiz to 'Livin' on a Prayer,' but it'll do."
The evening was a celebration of rock and soul music, honouring Van Zandt, Love, Steve Earle and Sam Moore of Sam and Dave for their musical contributions and career.
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https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1647414785439420417?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThis isn't the first time abrupt illness has gotten in the way for Springsteen with three shows on the current tour postponed due to "illness," although who was ill, and the type of illness, was not disclosed.
COVID itself has also caused disruption for the tour with E Street Band members Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Jake Clemons and Soozie Tyrell missing shows after testing positive.
The next show on the map for the band will be performed in Spain on April 28.
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Title: Music icon Bruce Springsteen 'broke hearts' after missing an awards show fundraiser for his own charity
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/bruce-springsteen-no-show-awards-show/a0bf68c9-bd02-4b58-b7a0-6d7d25b9bc4f
Published Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2023 00:04:00 GMT
