Photograph by Mark Seliger

Over two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden last month, rock history was made again and again: Bono, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and more legends united on one stage to celebrate the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary with a pair of concerts featuring some of the biggest talents of the past six decades. Metallica rocked with Lou Reed. Stevie Wonder sang with Smokey Robinson. The Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie and Will.i.am joined U2 and Jagger for “Gimme Shelter.” Rolling Stone has the story behind these epic concerts, and an unprecedented look behind the scenes of one of the greatest rock events ever in our new issue, on stands today.

Get a look at all of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s inductees.

David Fricke and Brian Hiatt trace the concerts’ journey from the first entreaties to artists (Led Zeppelin declined to reunite again; David Bowie couldn’t make it) to convincing HBO to air the shows as a prime-time special on November 29th to the incredible rehearsals, where Springsteen almost rocked his voice away trading “Fortunate Son” verses with John Fogerty. (more…)

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Earlier this year Rolling Stone asked Steven Van Zandt about rumors that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were going to play complete albums on their tour. “It could be something like that,” he said. “If I could pick, it’s gotta be The River. I’d want to include the outtakes on the Tracks collection. Then you have a hell of a show.”

It took a while, but Steve is getting his wish. According to the band’s official Website, the group will play the 1980 double album in its entirety (no word on the outtakes) when they play Madison Square Garden on November 8th. The day before, they will play 1973’s The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle at the same venue. For the past month Springsteen has been playing either Born to Run, Born in the U.S.A. or Darkness on the Edge of Town in full at his shows. (more…)

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band canceled their scheduled performance last night in Kansas City, Missouri, after the band’s assistant road manager Lenny Sullivan was found dead in his hotel room. Sullivan, who was also Springsteen’s cousin, was only 36. “Due to a death in Bruce’s immediate family, tonight’s show at Sprint Center has been unavoidably canceled. All tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase. Bruce and The Band deeply appreciate the understanding of our Kansas City audience and look forward to returning at the earliest opportunity,” reads a statement on Springsteen’s official Website. Rolling Stone confirmed the death with a Springsteen spokesperson last night.

Sullivan had served as the band’s assistant road manager for the past 10 years. “A warm and sensitive person, he was beloved by Bruce, the Band, the crew, and the entire Thrill Hill family,” the Springsteen Website posted yesterday. According to KMBC-TV Kansas City, a Springsteen rep said Sullivan was found dead in his room at the InterContinental Hotel at the Plaza. The cause of death has not yet been released, but police investigating Sullivan’s death say it is not suspicious. (more…)

When Bruce Springsteen first played Giants Stadium in the summer of 1985, he was at the height of his fame. Born in the U.S.A. yielded an astonishing seven Top 10 hits that were inescapable on the radio and MTV. Last night, 24 years and 24 Giants Stadium concerts later, he returned to the New Jersey venue to play the final show there before it’s demolished. In honor of the event, he played Born in the U.S.A. in its entirety in the middle of an epic three-hour-and-20-minute farewell party. Despite predictions that it would rain all night, barely a drop fell until the the very minute Springsteen walked offstage with his arm around Clarence Clemons — at which point it began pouring.

As he did at the previous four Giants Stadium shows, Springsteen opened the concert with “Wrecking Ball” — a defiant tune written specifically for these gigs. The song is written from the point of view of the stadium itself, but weeks after Springsteen’s 60th birthday it was impossible to not hear a dual meaning with lines like these: “Now when all this steel and these stories, they drift away to rust/And all our youth and beauty, it’s been given to the dust/And our game’s been decided, and we’re burning down the clock
/And all our little victories and glories, have turned into parking lots.”

Check out photos from Springsteen’s first Working on a Dream show of the year. (more…)

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Bruce Springsteen was so inspired by President Barack Obama during the 2008 election that he went out on the campaign trail to support the Democratic candidate. Returning the favor, Julius Genachowski, the man hired by Obama to oversee the Federal Communications Commission, was inspired by Springsteen when delivering the FCC’s stance on their Internet policy, using song titles from throughout the E Streeter’s career to make his point in the most rocking way possible, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Check out vintage photos of Bruce Springsteen.

Count the Springsteen references and get to know your new FCC chairman below: (more…)

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band kicked off their five-night Giants Stadium stand last night with a brand new song called “Wrecking Ball” — a tribute to the venue that’s months away from being demolished. In the surprisingly poignant track, Springsteen takes the voice of the gigantic concrete structure (”I was raised out of steel in the swamps of Jersey… I’ve seen champions come and go”) but was also clearly singing about his own life just days after his sixtieth birthday. (The best footage is above; full song below.)

Flip through vintage photos of Bruce Springsteen. (more…)

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Even at age 60, Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band are pushing new boundaries: As Rolling Stone predicted, Bruce and the boys will perform one of their classic albums in full each night during the Rock Hall legend’s five-show stand at New Jersey’s Giants Stadium from September 30th to October 9th. The shows are also historic because they’ll mark the last-ever gigs at the stadium that has played host to so many great concerts; the venue will be demolished at the end of this football season.

Springsteen will open up his five-night stand with a full performance of Born to Run, which the band performed in its entirety on September 20th at Chicago’s United Center. “Chicago convinced us that this was really worth doing,” Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau said in a statement. “The audience was so supportive of the concept that it convinced us to go ahead with this at Giants Stadium.”

Flip through vintage photos of Bruce Springsteen. (more…)

Last week, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons stopped by our offices and answered questions directly from our Twitter followers. (Ironically, Clemons dropped by while we were in the midst of trying to get tickets for Springsteen’s Madison Square Garden show!) This time around, we got “The Big Man” to talk about his new book Big Man, life on the road (”Every night is a new night, I love these long tours”), the band’s ever-changing set lists and how a car running over his foot won’t make him miss soundcheck.

Clemons also recounts that legendary rainy day in Asbury Park, New Jersey, when he first encountered a young Springsteen and asked if he could play along with him. “Halfway through that first song, I knew, right then, I envisioned me sitting here with you right now,” Clemons tells RS. For more from the Big Man, check out our video above.

Even though Bruce Springsteen is set to perform tomorrow night, September 20th, at Chicago’s United Center, we somehow managed to get E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons to stop by the Rolling Stone offices today to speak to the RS crew and, as our followers on Twitter found out, answer questions directly from the fans. You sent the tweets and now Clemons has your answers. In these exclusive videos, the Big Man fields questions about his favorite acting role, what Springsteen album he wants to play live in its entirety and much more. Check out Clemons answering the fans’ burning inquires below:

@StevenGiaier: You guys are performing Born to Run in Chicago. What other album would you most like to perform in its entirety?

(more…)

Bruce Springsteen was among the inaugural class of twenty-five inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Sunday. Springsteen was on hand to accept the honor at Newark’s Performing Arts Center, alongside novelist Toni Morrison, Yankee cathcer Yogi Berra and retired General Norman Schwarzkopf. “Rise up, my fellow New Jerseyans. We are all members of a confused but noble race,” Springsteen told those on hand. “Even with this wonderful Hall of Fame, we know there’s another bad Jersey joke just around the corner.” Frank Sinatra was also chosen as a first ballot Hall of Famer. The NJ Hall of Fame only exists as a website now, but funds are being raised to build an actual museum. Meanwhile, Bon Jovi sits idly by the phone, waiting for his rite of passage.

[Photo: Getty]

With the all-important Pennsylvania democratic primaries six days away, Bruce Springsteen has thrown his endorsement into the ring, backing presidential hopeful Barack Obama. In a signed message on his official website, Springsteen said “Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest. He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I’ve envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that’s interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit.” The complete text is after the jump. Springsteen last supported John Kerry during that candidate’s failed Presidential drive. In this year’s primaries, Springsteen’s native New Jersey chose Hillary Clinton, while Nebraska sided with Bruce’s pick. (more…)