Why Bruce Springsteen Considers Sudden Fame from ‘Born to Run’ a Curse

Bruce Springsteen is looking back on fame 50 years since Born to Run came out.

In a cover story interview with TIME magazine published on Thursday, Sept. 25, the “Hungry Heart” singer spoke about how his sudden fame from his 1975 album Born to Run felt like a “curse.”

Springsteen, 76, appeared on both covers of Newsweek and Time on Oct. 20, 1975, almost 50 years ago. “It’s making you very, very different than all the people you grew up with,” he told the publication of the experience, which was unheard of for musicians.

“It’s a very distorted lens to live your life through,” Springsteen said of the “hype” he was afraid of getting to him and potentially changing him. “You have to be very protective of yourself, of what matters dearly to you.”

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Though his success and fame were exciting, there were alarming aspects. The musician’s sister had memories of paparazzi looking into their parents’ kitchen, per TIME.

Among the songs on the album that catapulted him to fame are “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Backstreets,” “Jungle Land” and, of course, the title track.

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In November 2022, Springsteen spoke about fame through the lens of his children when they were younger. During an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer explained what made sense to his now-adult children Evan, Jessica and Sam.

“When they were really little, they would ask why people would come up to me so I told them it was because where I worked I ‘was like Barney for adults’ so they understood,” he said.

“Now they have virtually no interest in music or in that part of my life,” Springsteen added. “But as I always say, ‘They don’t need a hero, they need a father.'”

He also told TIME about his new music on the way, and how each album needed a new component to it.

“The first thing that really reaches the public is the thing they tend to hold on to and want you to hold on to,” Springsteen said.

“What the writer has to do is you write yourself into a box, and then you’re Houdini. You continue your work until you feel yourself locked in that bigger box, then you’re supposed to escape into a bigger box.”

Months before, Springsteen had announced the release of 83 never-before-heard songs that had been recorded between 1983 and 2018, aptly called Tracks II: The Lost Albums.

“I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them,” he said in a statement in April. The compilation album was released on June 27.

Throughout his career, Springsteen had been nominated for 51 Grammy Awards and won 20.