Months after Patti Scialfa revealed her blood cancer diagnosis, she made a rare public appearance at Linda Ronstadt’s tribute concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater in Nashville.
On July 22, Scialfa, who’s Bruce Springsteen’s wife and a longtime member of the E Street Band, took the stage to sing “To Know Him Is to Love Him” and “Birds” with Emmylou Harris and Trisha Yearwood, who co-produced the event.
Scialfa, 71, also sang “Valerie” with Harris and “The Water Is Wide” with Yearwood, Harris, Rodney Crowell and James Taylor.
Before the tribute concert, her last public appearance was at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music’s American Music Honors program in April.
Scialfa revealed she was diagnosed with the rare cancer multiple myeloma in 2018 on Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. In the documentary, she said touring became a challenge for her — but it hadn’t put a damper on her love for performing.
“This affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” she said in the documentary. “Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs onstage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
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Emmylou Harris and Patti Scialfa
The documentary marked the first time Scialfa publicly addressed getting diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, which are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune system, according to the American Cancer Society.
During a panel at the doc’s Los Angeles premiere at the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum that same month, Springsteen, 75, opened up about how his wife’s diagnosi led to him speaking about the importance of cherishing life during performances.
“Hey, you get up around our age, and those are the things you’re thinking about,” he told the audience. “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.”
Meanwhile, in the ABC News Special Bruce Springsteen: Backstage and Backstreets, which aired on Oct. 20, Springsteen shared an update on his wife’s health.
While he noted that multiple myeloma is a “tough disease” and “very fatiguing,” he said she was “doing good. We caught it early, which was important.”
In June, Scialfa and Springsteen — who share 35-year-old son Evan, 33-year-old daughter Jessica and 31-year-old son Sam — celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary and posted a PDA-filled throwback photo from their first anniversary.
“Our one year anniversary…. Bruce surprised me with a beautiful party…..” Scialfa wrote in her Instagram post’s caption. “Today marks 34 years … even though we already had Evan and Jess was on the way…. spent the evening with Bruce Sam and our granddaughter Lily…”
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