New Jersey Will Fly Flags At Half-Mast For Clarence Clemons

Clarence Clemons performs at the Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Al Pereira/WireImage

Flags in New Jersey will fly at half-mast tomorrow in tribute to E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died on Saturday from complications of a stroke.

"Clarence Clemons represented the soul and spirit of New Jersey," Governor Chris Christie said in a statement. "His partnership with Bruce Springsteen and the rest of the E Street Band brought great pride to our state and joy to every fan of this music around the world."

Remembering Clarence Clemons: His Life and Career in Photos

Christie, a longtime Springsteen fan, was personally affected by Clemons' death. "When I heard about the Big Man's passing on Saturday night, I was struck with an overwhelming feeling that the days of my youth were now finally over," Christie said. "My condolences to Clarence's family and all the members of the E Street Band."

RELATED:
E Street Band's Clarence Clemons Dies at 69
Bruce Springsteen on Clarence Clemons: 'His Loss is Immeasurable'

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

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