Bruce Springsteen is a living legend in the music industry, with legions of diehard fans.
But even people who aren’t as familiar with his music likely know about his longtime nickname, “The Boss.”
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Now, the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer is opening up about the moniker, admitting how he really feels about being called “The Boss.”
On the May 1 episode of the Awards Chatter podcast, Springsteen said the nickname “dogged me my whole life.”
The 20-time Grammy winner said, despite that, he’s “gotten used to it. I’ve given up and gotten used to it, I suppose.”
As for how the nickname came about, Springsteen explained that it came down to him literally being his band and crew’s boss when they were starting out, recalling a conversation with one of them.
“‘Hey, boss.’ You know? ‘Are we getting paid this week?’ ‘Sure,’” he recounted. “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.”
Though the “Born to Run” singer seems to have begrudgingly accepted the title, fans have embraced it wholeheartedly.
As one fan noted on the Bruce Springsteen subreddit, “it was picked up by early fans because of Stevie [Van Zandt, E Street Band member] and the band calling him that. It was always clear that he is in charge – not just paying the bills. He isn’t the lead singer of a band. The band is there to support him and he makes the decisions even though he listens to them.”
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