It was another big year for Bruce Springsteen, which culminated in the New Jersey rocker’s life being depicted on the big screen.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere premiered at the New York Film Festival in September and opened in theaters in October. The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White starred as The Boss, and did his own singing, while Succession’s Jeremy Strong playing the rocker’s manager, Jon Landau. The film followed Springsteen’s efforts in making his 1982 solo album, Nebraska. White earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of the New Jersey rocker.
Springsteen also celebrated a big anniversary in August 2025: the 50th anniversary of his iconic third studio album, Born to Run. To mark the occasion he released “Lonely Night in the Park” for the first time, a track that was recorded during the Born to Run sessions and was considered for the album, but was ultimately left off.
He also made a surprise appearance at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music’s Born to Run 50th anniversary celebration in New Jersey, performing two songs from the album — the title track and “Thunder Road” — joined by current and former members of the E Street Band.
But those were only some of the many Springsteen-related highlights this year. Among the others:
– Springsteen made a surprise appearance at a Patti Smith tribute concert, People Have the Power – A Celebration of Patti Smith, at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He performed “Because the Night,” the song he wrote that became a hit for Patti.
– In May, Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off a European tour, and he stirred up controversy by criticizing President Donald Trump. He said America was “in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.” That prompted a response from Trump, who called Springsteen “highly overrated.”
– The tour also featured a surprise appearance by Paul McCartney at The Boss’ show in Liverpool. They teamed up for two songs: The Beatles‘ classic “Can’t Buy Me Love” and a cover of the Leiber & Stoller tune “Kansas City,” which The Beatles recorded in 1964.
– Springsteen’s tour, which launched in 2023 and wrapped in 2025, became the highest-grossing tour of his career, bringing in $729.7 million to surpass his previous highest-grossing tour, the 2012-13 Wrecking Ball World Tour, which brought in $347 million. It also sold 4.9 million tickets, more tickets than any previous Springsteen tour.
– Springsteen released the long-awaited follow-up to 1998’s box set Tracks. Tracks II: The Lost Albums featured seven previously unheard Springsteen records.
– The Boss was honored by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures with the inaugural Legacy Award, which “honors an artist whose body of work has inspired generations of storytellers and deeply influenced our culture.”
– To coincide with the release of Deliver Me From Nowhere, Bruce released Nebraska: Expanded Edition, a box set featuring previously unreleased material. It included the long-rumored Electric Nebraska, a present-day recording of Springsteen performing Nebraska in its entirety at New Jersey’s Count Basie Theatre.
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