Bruce Springsteen may be known as “The Boss,” but he’d rather not be.
The beloved rocker opened up about his apparent disdain for his longstanding nickname on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast on Thursday, May 1.
“‘The Boss,’ which dogged me my whole life, still does,” he said. “I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve given up and gotten used to it, I suppose.”
Springsteen, 75, then offered some background on the moniker, saying it came about simply because he paid his band and crew.
“‘Hey, boss.’ You know? ‘Are we getting paid this week?’ ‘Sure,’” he recalled. “And then some DJ heard it and started using it on the radio and it, you know, went viral, as they say. And so there it is.”
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Bruce Springsteen during his Born In The USA Tour on September 4, 1985, at Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.
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The origin story was previously shared in Peter Ames Carlin’s 2012 biography Bruce, which says that for the first three years of its existence, it was only for members of Springsteen’s inner circle.
At some point in 1974, a journalist overheard a crew member say “Hey, Boss!” and the nickname became public knowledge.
According to the book, Springsteen would even alter the lyrics to “Rosalita” in the mid-1970s by singing, “You don’t have to call me lieutenant, Rosie/Just don’t ever call me Boss!”
“I remember people calling him that and not taking it seriously. Not ‘til I started calling him the Boss. Then they took it seriously because I was a boss, too. So when I started calling him the Boss the vibe was, ‘If Stevie’s doing it, there’s something to this!’” E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt said in the book.
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Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Van Zandt in Vienna, Austria on July 18, 2023.
Earlier this month, Springsteen announced the release of Tracks II: The Lost Albums, a collection of seven never-before-heard albums featuring music recorded between 1983 and 2018. It’s set for release on June 27 via Sony Music.
According to a press release, The Lost Albums “fill in rich chapters of Springsteen’s expansive career timeline — while offering invaluable insight into his life and work as an artist.”
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“The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” Springsteen said in a statement. “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.”
The collection also features a film soundtrack for a movie that was never made called Faithless, as well as an LP called Inyo, and an “orchestra-driven, mid-century noir” project titled Twilight Hours.
The “Born to Run” singer’s most recent album, Only the Strong Survive, came out in 2022, and featured covers of classics from the Four Tops, Supremes, the Temptations and more.
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