Lauded by Rolling Stone as “the embodiment of rock & roll,” with more than 140 million records sold around the globe and more than 70 million in the United States, Bruce Springsteen is one of the world’s best-selling artists. Long recognized as an incomparable live performer, Springsteen and The E Street Band's 2023 international tour marked their first live shows since the conclusion of The River Tour in 2017 — a 14-month run named 2016’s top global tour by both Billboard and Pollstar — and kicked off in February 2023 with a string of U.S. arena dates. The 2023 tour then continued into Europe over the spring and summer, before returning to North America for a second leg in August.
Backed by The E Street Horns and The E Street Choir, Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 European tour sold more than 1.6 million tickets — and earned widespread acclaim as some of the best shows of the band’s career, receiving praise from Billboard as “the greatest show on earth” and "one of the greatest shows ever" from The Daily Telegraph as well as five-star reviews from The Times, The Independent, NME and many others. Highlights included a two-night kick-off in Barcelona which "unleashed euphoria," as El Correo attested, as well as performances to over 130,000 fans across two dates at London's Hyde Park and a final night to over 70,000 in Monza, Italy. The 14-country tour included multi-night stands in each of Barcelona, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Oslo, London and Copenhagen.
Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, two Golden Globes and a Special Tony Award. In 1999, Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — followed by The E Street Band at large in 2014 — as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, he received a Kennedy Center Honor — and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama in 2016. In 2023, Springsteen was also honored by President Joe Biden at the White House with the 2021 National Medal of Arts.
Before the success and accolades, the fiercely loyal New Jerseyan first assembled The E Street Band on the state’s beaches and boardwalk clubs — featuring many members who still tour with him till this day. In 1999, after 10 years apart, Springsteen reconvened The E Street Band for a historic series of shows documented on the “Live in New York City” HBO special, DVD and album. Since the E Street reunion tour, Springsteen has toured consistently — usually with the band. Highlights have included the 2004 Vote for Change benefit tour, The Rising Tour in 2002 — including a record-breaking 10 nights at Giants Stadium — as well as the Wrecking Ball World Tour in 2012 and The River Tour in 2016, both of which were the highest-grossing tours of their respective years. According to Pollstar magazine, Springsteen is one of just four artists who have sold more than 20 million tickets since 1980.