September 23rd will officially be “Bruce Springsteen Day,” in New Jersey.
That’s after Governor Murphy issued the proclamation at the inaugural American Music Honors event, which was presented by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
“Bruce Springsteen is one of the most iconic and influential musicians – and New Jerseyans – of all time, period,” Governor Murphy said as part of his announcement.
Springsteen was supposed to accept the proclamation at the event, but he and his wife Patti Scialfa did not attend as they have COVID-19, said Bob Santelli, executive director of the archives.
Santelli informed the crowd that he received a call around 6 a.m. that morning about Springsteen’s diagnosis, according to NJArts.net.
Jon Stewart, host of the event, said after the announcement, “They’re still alive — don’t overreact. You can still see them in concert. They’re home sitting by the fire eating French onion soup.”
The day before on Friday, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took the stage for a sold-out homecoming show at Prudential Center in Newark- the first for the band in nearly 7 years.
The Boss and the band are supposed to depart for Barcelona, Spain on an international tour on April 28th and it is unclear if his COVID diagnosis will have an impact on scheduled dates.
Earlier in the tour, band members Stevie Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Jake Clemons and Soozie Tyrell missed shows due to COVID. At the time, the band announced that three shows were postponed due to “illness,” but who was ill, and the type of illness were not disclosed.
