BBC will devote its night-time programming to The Boss as he prepares to bring his legendary live shows to Anfield next week
Bruce Springsteen will fulfil a long-held dream when he performs in Liverpool next week(Image: Getty Images)
Excitement is building as Bruce Springsteen prepares to bring his shows to Liverpool next week. The legendary musician and the E-Street Band will play gigs at Anfield Stadium on June 4 and June 7.
The 75-year-old has admitted he will realise a long-held dream when he performs the shows in Anfield. In an interview with Simon Mayo for Greatest Hits, he said: “I’m very excited about that.
“I’ve never been there. If you come from America, you want to see Liverpool.” The Boss likened Liverpool to some of the biggest landmarks in his home state of New Jersey.
He said: “It’s like people come from all over the world, and they want to see Freehold [Township] or they want to see Asbury Park… I have never been to Liverpool and I want to see it.”
Simon assured Bruce that he will like what he sees when he eventually arrives. He said: “You’re going, and I think you’re going to have a fantastic time. They’re going to love you very much.”
As Bruce continues his Land of Hope and Dreams tour in Liverpool, the BBC is devoting its Saturday night schedule to the musician tonight to mark 50 years since his first show on our side of the Atlantic.
In his interview with Simon Mayo, the Dancing in the Dark singer said he always performs in the country. He added: “I’ve been coming here for 50 years. Since I was a 25-year-old kid and I’m now a 75-year-old man. I’ve been coming here that long. We have dedicated fans in the UK that are really wonderful.”
The Boss takeover gets underway on BBC Two with Bruce Springsteen at the BBC. This will be followed by a documentary When Bruce Springsteen came to Britain, which explores the singer’s relationship with the country.
The Born in the USA singer has long been regarded as a working-class hero, and the documentary lifts the lid on his incredible gesture to the striking miners in 1985.
Ahead of his show at St James’ Park in Newcastle, he invited women from miners’ support groups amid pit closures across the country.
Juliana Heron and Anne Suddick were two from the support group invited to the event. In the documentary, they hailed The Boss for his life-saving gesture as he provided them with 20,000 dollars.
She said: “He’s a hero to us; he didn’t do it for publicity. He did it because he wanted to do it, and that would have helped a great deal in the support groups. It was absolutely life-saving; it was life-saving.”
Bruce addresses the gesture in the documentary as he said: “My parents were working-class people, and I watched them struggle their whole lives, and I had been reading about it in the newspapers, so it was just something that felt like it would be a good thing to do.”
The Bruce Springsteen takeover gets started on BBC Two at 8.30pm with Bruce Springsteen at the BBC. When Bruce Springsteen came to Britain starts at 9.30pm. This will be followed by his first ever performance in Europe, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Hammersmith Odeon 1975.