Bruce Springsteen facing 'questions of mortality'

23 October 2024

Bruce Springsteen has been facing "questions of mortality".

Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa have been considering mortality

The 75-year-old rocker admitted his wife Patti Scialfa's battle with multiple myeloma - a rare form of blood cancer which she was diagnosed with in 2018 - and their advancing years has left the couple considering how much of their lives they have left.

Speaking at a Q+A following a screening of his new documentary, 'Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band', People magazine reports he said: "Hey, you get up around our age, and those are the things you're thinking about.

"Patti and I have had to deal with her illness, and you're worried about... it is a part of your life now, questions of mortality, and it just becomes a part of your life."

And the 'Born to Run' hitmaker explained one of the factors in making his documentary - which chronicles The Boss and his band on their first tour since 2017 - was not knowing how long they have left.

He said: "Well, if we didn't make it now, I'd be dead pretty soon. We got to make these while we can."

Bruce credits his late friend, George Theiss - who died in 2018 aged 68 - for his outlook on life.

He said: "Like I say in the film, there's a lot more yesterdays and goodbyes once you get up around where we are than there was 30 or 40 years ago."

Although Patti still loves to perform with the E Street Band, her illness leaves her "intensely" fatigued so she has learned to be selective about when she gets on stage.

Bruce recently told The Times magazine: “They found it early on and she’s got really good doctors who have helped a lot. But it does fatigue her, very intensely, and that’s a problem. I’m doing a three-hour show, which is fatiguing for me and I’m pretty much at the top of my health. But she’s been great.

"We’ve worked out that she can come out and sing a few songs, and it’s important that the fans know what’s going on because they haven’t seen her in five years. Patti decided she owed that to her audience.”