SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

No. 45

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 13, 2020

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  VIN GOPAL

District 11 (Monmouth)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Senator Diegnan

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Designates September 23 of each year as “Bruce Springsteen Day.”

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


A Joint Resolution designating September 23 of each year as “Bruce Springsteen Day.”

 

Whereas, Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on September 23, 1949 and was raised in Freehold, New Jersey by his working class family; and

Whereas, Bruce Springsteen’s love of rock and roll music began by watching Elvis Presley on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1956 and was reaffirmed by The Beatles’ appearance on the same program in 1964; and

Whereas, In the late sixties and early seventies, Bruce Springsteen honed his skills as a songwriter and performer by touring with bands based in New Jersey, including the Castiles and Steel Mill, and met several future members of the E Street Band through his associations with these groups; and

Whereas, Bruce Springsteen’s numerous appearances at venues such as the Stone Pony and the Upstage Club helped establish Asbury Park, New Jersey as a hub for musicians; and

Whereas, In 1972, Bruce Springsteen was signed to a record deal with Columbia Records and released the critically-acclaimed “Greetings from Asbury Park,” which generated comparisons of Springsteen to Bob Dylan; and

Whereas, The nickname “The Boss” was attached to Bruce Springsteen during this time, as he collected the money from performances to pay to band members, and has stuck with him ever since; and

Whereas, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s third album, the career-defining “Born to Run,” was released in 1975 and retains such a stature that Rolling Stone magazine considers it today to be the 18th greatest album of all time and the title track the 21st greatest song of all time; and

Whereas, After “Born to Run,” albums such as “The River” and “Born in the U.S.A.” solidified Bruce Springsteen, along with the E Street Band, as a phenomenon, leading to global sold-out tours and making Bruce Springsteen and the band legends, in part, due to live performances in excess of three hours; and

Whereas, In the late eighties and into the nineties, Bruce Springsteen released solo albums,  won an Academy Award for the song “Streets of Philadelphia” from the film “Philadelphia,” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; and

Whereas, The attacks of September 11, 2001, inspired Bruce Springsteen to put together the seminal album “The Rising,” which spoke to the grief and loss of New Jersey residents and Americans in general; and

Whereas, Bruce Springsteen has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and won 20 Grammys; and

Whereas, Because of Bruce Springsteen’s contributions as a musician and citizen of New Jersey, he was a member of the inaugural class of inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2008; and

Whereas, In 2017, Bruce Springsteen broke ground by becoming the first rock and roll musician to have a residency on Broadway, which earned Springsteen a special Tony Award in 2018; and

Whereas, Bruce Springsteen performs at numerous charitable concerts, contributes millions of dollars to philanthropic causes, and encourages his audiences to give back, including asking fans to bring canned goods to concerts so the items can be donated to local food banks; and

Whereas, Bruce Springsteen, along with his wife, New Jersey native and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, still call New Jersey home; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    September 23 of each year shall be designated as “Bruce Springsteen Day” in the State of New Jersey in recognition of the many accomplishments of Bruce Springsteen and his contributions to this State.

 

     2.    The Governor is respectfully requested to annually issue a proclamation calling upon public officials and citizens of this State to observe “Bruce Springsteen Day” with appropriate activities and programs.

 

     3.    This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This joint resolution designates September 23 of each year as “Bruce Springsteen Day.”

     Bruce Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on September 23, 1949 and raised in Freehold, New Jersey by his working class family. He watched performances by Elvis Presley in 1956 and the Beatles in 1964 on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” which sparked his interest in rock and roll music. During the late sixties and early seventies, Bruce Springsteen honed his skills as a songwriter and performer by touring with New Jersey-based bands such as the Castiles and Steel Mill, and met future members of the E Street Band. During this time, Bruce Springsteen’s numerous appearances at venues such as the Stone Pony and the Upstage Club helped establish Asbury Park, New Jersey as a hub for musicians.

     In 1972, Bruce Springsteen was signed to Columbia Records and released his first album, “Greetings from Asbury Park.” It was critically-acclaimed and sparked comparisons to Bob Dylan. The nickname “The Boss” was attached to Bruce Springsteen during this time, as he collected the money from performances to pay to band members, and has stuck with him ever since. A career-defining third album, the seminal “Born to Run,” was released in 1975. It retains such a stature that Rolling Stone magazine declared it the 18th greatest album of all time and the title track the 21st greatest song of all time.

     Albums released after “Born to Run,” such as “The River” and “Born in the U.S.A.,” solidified Bruce Springsteen, along with the E Street Band, as a phenomenon. These albums led to global sold-out tours and made Bruce Springsteen and the band legends, in part, due to performances in excess of three hours. In the late eighties and into the nineties, Bruce Springsteen released solo albums, won an Academy Award for the song “Streets of Philadelphia” from the film “Philadelphia,” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

     The attacks of September 11, 2001, inspired Bruce Springsteen to put together the seminal album “The Rising,” which spoke to the grief and loss of New Jersey residents and Americans in general. In total, Bruce Springsteen has gone on to sell 120 million albums worldwide and has won 20 Grammys. Because of his contributions as a musician and citizen of New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen was a member of the inaugural class of inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2017, Bruce Springsteen broke ground by becoming the first rock and roll musician to have a residency on Broadway, which earned Springsteen a special Tony Award in 2018.

     Bruce Springsteen performs at numerous charitable concerts, contributes millions of dollars to philanthropic causes, and encourages his audiences to give back. This includes asking fans to bring canned goods to concerts so the items can be donated to local food banks. Bruce Springsteen and his wife, New Jersey native and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, still call New Jersey home.