Bruce Springsteen's Raging Last Days — Rocker Reveals Why He'll Always Be a Tortured Artist Amid Brutal Health Scares
Bruce Springsteen has admitted he's always been a tortured soul and his haunted past, and many health scares, have inspired his music.
June 24 2025, Published 10:57 a.m. ET
Bruce Springsteen has admitted he's a "tortured soul" following a series of brutal health scares.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the self-proclaimed 'Boss', 75, says his "haunted past" has inspired some of his biggest songs, despite taking a huge toll on his personal well-being.
'Darkness Is A Big Part Of My Life'
Springsteen admits his haunted past is regularly referred to in his music.
The veteran singer was forced to cancel a slew of U.S. concert dates last year due to a crippling peptic ulcer, which resulted in a dramatic overhaul of his lifestyle.
Speaking about how battling personal demons has impacted his music, Springsteen said: "I write about that frequently: your past haunting you, the debt you owe.
"Twilight Hours has a song called High Sierra, where a man leaves the city, finds a bucolic existence, and someone comes from their past to pull them back into the darkness they tried to leave. It's a big part of my life."
Deeply Tormented Artists
The Boss says some of music's most legendary figures were and are deeply tormented.
But Springsteen won't let his inside thoughts get him down, insisting some of music's most legendary figures were deeply tormented.
He added: "The artists we love are the artists with something eating at them.
"Dylan, Sinatra, Hank Williams... what’s bothering these guys? It piques our curiosity because we all have something eating at us, and it feeds into the songwriting.
"You create a character, you get the detail, you find the part of you in that person... that's how you breathe life on to the page and into the music."
Trump War Back On
Springsteen has reignited his feud with Donald Trump by branding the current political climate 'an American tragedy.'
RadarOnline.com recently revealed Springsteen has reignited his feud with Donald Trump by branding the current political climate "an American tragedy."
The star came out swinging once again at the president following his recent comments during a live concert in Manchester, England, in which he denounced the Trump administration as as "corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.”
The business mogul recently hit back, labelling Springsteen a "dried out prune" who "ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back in the country."
The Boss says Trump in power is an 'America tragedy'.
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And in his latest interview, the Boss is refusing to back down his public disdain of Trump.
He said: "It's an American tragedy.
"We're living through a terrible moment in history, where Congress has neutered itself and the boundaries that once curtailed this type of leadership have disintegrated."
He added: "The pure incompetence of (the administration) may carry the seeds of its own destruction.
"But I don't know what’s going to happen. I haven't lived through a time like this in my entire life and I'm 75-years-old."
Trump said Springsteen is a 'dried out prune' who 'ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back in the country.'
He was also quizzed on the subject of fame, admits relocating back to New Jersey, his home state, has kept him grounded and ensured remains connected to the world he writes about.
Springsteen said: "I don't believe we lose any part of ourselves. The first 20 years shape you, maybe longer in my case because I signed a lot of bad deals and at 30 I still only had $20,000 in the bank. I remain curious about the world.
"And coming back to New Jersey is the best decision I ever made, because it means I'm in the community.
"I know the mayor, the priest, the barber. I'm friends with the guys I was in bands with at 15, and we’ll meet down at the pizza parlour once a year. Maintaining those connections is a joyful part of my life."
