Music

1 In 1986 he was reportedly offered $12 million to license ‘Born In The USA’ for a series of Chrysler commercials. He declined.

2 In 1976, after playing Memphis, Springsteen visited Elvis’s Graceland mansion. He climbed a wall to get entry but was apprehended by security staff. They were unimpressed that he’d made the cover of both Time and Newsweek that very week – or that he wore an obscure Elvis fan club badge on the front cover of ‘Born To Run’.

3 Springsteen fell out with Walter Yetnikoff, the legendary boss of CBS records, after playing a benefit concert for Amnesty International at Wembley Stadium in 1988. Yetnikoff saw Amnesty as ‘anti-Israel’ and refused to return Bruce’s calls.

4 If you play 33rpm Bruce Springsteen albums at 45rpm, they sound uncannily like Dolly Parton. Go on, try it.

5 President Reagan famously tried to co-opt the anti-Vietnam War lyric ‘Born In The USA’ (inspired by the same Ron Kovic book that was the basis for ‘Born On The Fourth Of July’) as his anthem during the 1984 election. In one press conference, Reagan claimed to be a fan of The Boss (a left-leaning, registered Democrat) but, when pressed, couldn’t name any of his songs. Aides later recommended that Reagan profess his love of ‘Born To Run’.

6 Bruce’s voice is insured for $5.6 million.

7 Bruce is an unlikely hip hop hero. He let controversial rappers 2 Live Crew sample ‘Born In The USA’ for their PMRC-baiting ‘Banned In The USA’, while his sister Pamela took the iconic cover shot of Ice Cube’s post-LA riots LP ‘The Predator’.

8 Bruce is also an unlikely punk hero: Mick Jones reports how The Clash, The Slits, Buzzcocks and Subway Sect constantly listened to the ‘Born To Run’ album on the White Riot tour. Bruce also became mates with Suicide in the late ’70s, and still covers ‘Dream Baby Dream’ to this day. And he initially wrote ‘Hungry Heart’ for The Ramones.

9 He refused to play ‘The Angry Game’ when he appeared on a Swedish talk-show called ‘Sen kväll med Luuk’. The game is a staring contest in which the contestants are not allowed to laugh.

10 John Turturro wrote the recent ‘Romance And Cigarettes’ with Bruce in mind for the lead. Bruce turned it down because he said he wasn’t a very good actor. The role went to James Gandolfini.