Bruce Springsteen Joseph Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949, at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey. He was brought home from the hospital to Freehold Borough where he spent his childhood. He lived on South Street and attended Freehold Borough High School. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen (1924-1998), was of Dutch and Irish ancestry, and worked as a bus driver, among other jobs, but was unemployed most of the time. Springsteen said his mother, Adele Ann (née Zerilli), a legal secretary and of Italian ancestry, was the main breadwinner. His maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense, a town
The River (Bruce Springsteen song) became one of Springsteen's best-known songs. It was included on both his 1995 "Greatest Hits" and 2003 "The Essential Bruce Springsteen" compilations. The song was also incorporated in the European edition of the 2009 "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits". The aggregation of critics' lists at Acclaimed Music rated this song as the #13 song of 1980, as well as #114 of the 1980s and #800 all time. The song was debuted in public at the Musicians United for Safe Energy concerts at Madison Square Garden in September 1979, and was featured in the subsequent 1980 film