Alex Carson
Bruce Springsteen is one of the richest musicians of our time. He’s had countless number 1 hits. He’s sold millions of albums and has been the recipient of some of the most prestigious awards and accolades in the industry.
Bruce’s net worth is estimated to be about $500 million and his yearly salary is said to be somewhere around $80 million. But even with all of that cash and fame, Springsteen still manages to find himself in hot water from time to time.
Stay tuned to find out why Bruce Springsteen is being called out by one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in the world.
Bruce’s Recent Brush With Controversy Has Created Uproar
The news broke on Wednesday, February 10th that Bruce was arrested in New Jersey on drunk driving charges this past November. Pandemonium ensued. Fans were absolutely dumbstruck that such a thing could happen to the singer-songwriter. Although he’s not a teetotaler by any means, he’s never been known to be a problematic drinker.
Vehicle manufacturer, Jeep, responded to the controversy by removing Springsteen’s recent Super Bowl ad from their YouTube page. Additionally, the company put out a statement stating that ‘drinking and driving can never be condoned.’
The Details Of His Case Are Still Pretty Blurry
Conflicting details emerged on Wednesday and Thursday that seem to present conflicting versions of the severity of the situation. The Asbury Park Press, the local paper from Springsteen’s hometown, cited a police report saying that Bruce’s blood-alcohol level was only .02 when he was was pulled over. That’s far below the legal limit of .08, so what gives? Well, it seems that there are two sides to the story.
The New York Post reports that the 71-year-old classic rocker only had a single shot of tequila offered to him by one of his fans. The news outlet claims that Springsteen was riding his motorcycle at a federal park near Sandy Hook, New Jersey when he pulled over to chat with fans and take some pictures. Apparently, that’s when he accepted a shot from one of them. It’s not clear if he was aware of their presence but Bruce was in full view of law enforcement officers nearby when he accepted the libation.
The source told the Post that Springsteen pulled over, took a few pictures, and then accepted the shot while he was still sitting on his bike. The police saw what had just transpired and pulled him over as soon as he drove away.
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And don’t go anywhere just yet. After we cover this whole DUI thing, we’re going to take a moment to give you a rundown on Bruce’s history and impact on the music industry. You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you?
Another Report Paints A Very Different Picture
TMZ reported on Thursday that they had obtained legal documents that shed more light on the situation. According to the police report, an officer observed Bruce take a shot of Patron while on his motorcycle. Shortly after he knocked it back, he started his engine and drove away.
After the officer pulled him over, he informed Springsteen that drinking was strictly prohibited in the area. The officer supposedly observed that the bottle of Patron was empty when he stopped him. Springsteen then allegedly told the officer that he had only consumed 2 shorts within the last 20 minutes, but the cop wasn’t buying his story.
According to the report, Springsteen was swaying back and forth and had glassy eyes when he took a field sobriety test. He reportedly also refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. Both the TMZ article and other reports state, however, that Springsteen fully cooperated with law enforcement prior to his arrest.
He might have been cooperative when the incident first happened, but he has been noticeably silent on the matter since then. Representatives for Springsteen and the National Park service have both declined to respond to requests by Variety magazine for comment on the ongoing situation.
Jeep is right though. Drinking and driving isn’t excusable under any situation or context. Jeep gave a statement to Variety where they reiterated their stance on the matter by saying that ‘while it would be inappropriate for [them] to comment on the details of the matter…until the actual facts can be established, ‘ their message to the community is clear. Drinking and driving can never be condoned under any circumstances.
Bruce’s Super Bowl Ad
The ad in question that Jeep took down from their YouTube page was titled “The Middle”, and featured Springsteen calling for national unity in the midst of the political polarization that has divided the nation and turmoil caused by the pandemic.
Unfortunately, that poignant message has been overshadowed by Springsteen’s arrest. It is possible however that Bruce’s case might be thrown out – especially if it’s true that his blood alcohol levels really were as low as they were reported.
Perhaps Jeep will reinstate the ad when new details come to light but for now, they have chosen to take the ad down and cease airing it on television and streaming services. In this day and age, corporations are more worried about ‘virtue signaling’ than they are about delivering messages of unity.
We’ll keep you posted as new detail emerge in this ongoing story, but let’s rewind a bit. Guilty or not, Springsteen’s story is one worth telling.
Bruce Learned To Play Guitar When He Was 15
Springsteen had a deep love for music from an early age. He was inspired by the new breed of rock and roll music from artists like Elvis Presley and The Beatles and decided he wanted to start making his own music, so at the age of 15, he scraped together all of his savings and bought his first guitar.
He was a quick learner, and before long he was playing small gigs at local bars and restaurants around his hometown in New Jersey. In 1972, he was signed to Columbia Records along with a few of his close companions. That was the moment that the E Street Band was formed.
A Star Is Born
Bruce and his band made their big debut in 1973 when they released their first album, Greetings From Asbury Park. He followed that up with his sophomore album The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle later that year.
But it wasn’t until her released his third studio album, Born to Run, in 1975 that he started receiving the recognition that he deserved. That record took Bruce and the band more than 14 months to finish but all that time spent fine-tuning it was worth it. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, and just like that, Bruce was an overnight superstar. He even appeared on both the covers of Time and Newsweek in October of that year.
Since Born To Run hit store shelves, Springsteen has sold more than 9 million copies worldwide.
Springsteen’s status as a cultural icon was reaffirmed numerous times throughout the 1980s. His 1980 album, River, was his first album to peak at number 1 on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart. His 1982 acoustic album Nebraska was named Album of the Year by Rolling Stone.
Born In The USA And Bruce’s Solo Years
Springsteen’s most famous album, Born in the USA, was released in June 1984 and went on to sell more than 30 million copies globally. That album earned him his first Grammy nod as well. Even though he didn’t win Record of the Year, he did take home an award for Best Rock Vocal Performance for his track ‘Dancing in the Dark’.
Since then, Springsteen has won 20 Grammy’s, one Oscar, and one Golden Globe for his musical contributions to the films Dead Man Walking and Philadelphia.
In the 90s, Bruce decided that he wanted to focus on his solo career so he temporarily stepped away from the E Street Band to work on his own material. He released 2 albums in 1992, Human Touch and Lucky Town and followed those up with The Ghost of Tom Joad in 1995.
Although critically speaking, these solo albums were well received, their sales weren’t nearly as impressive as his previous albums, so after almost 2 decades, Bruce reunited with his old E Street Band mates and released The Rising in 2002.
Springsteen’s Skyrocketing Wealth
The 2000s and 2010s were really good for Bruce. His fame and fortune exploded during these years. Not only did he and the band put out some incredible albums but his non-stop sold-out tours during this era helped him become one of the highest-paid performers in the world. He proved that he had truly earned his spot in the music world.
His most recent albums include 2015s Tunnel Vision, 2019s Western Stars, and Letter to You which dropped in October 2020.
In addition to being one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters in history, Bruce is also an accomplished Broadway star. In 2017, his show Springsteen On Broadway premiered. It ended up running for 14 months until late 2019.
Springsteen has also tried his hand as a director. He co-directed Bruce Springsteen: Western Star in 2019. Bruce is also the author of several books including a self-titled autobiography published in 2014, and an illustrated adult novel called Outlaw Pete which he also published in 2014.
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Anyway, what do you think about Bruce Springsteen’s latest DUI charges? Do you think the media is making a mountain out of a molehill or do you think he actually deserves the criticism coming his way? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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