Bruce Springsteen Reveals Why Asbury Park 'Became Central' to His Musical Identity

Ilana KaplanTue, April 14, 2026 at 8:18 PM UTC

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Bruce Springsteen in August 1973 in New Jersey; Bruce Springsteen for 'New Jersey Monthly' in April 2026Credit: David Gahr/Getty; @dannybones64 & @transparentclinchgallery -

Bruce Springsteen revealed why Asbury Park became so intertwined with his identity

"There was me and a small group of musicians who lived in this little seaside town and created a little local music community—the center of which was a place called the Student Prince, originally. The Student Prince was pre the [Stone] Pony [music venue], and that was really where I got my start," The Boss said in a New Jersey Monthly cover story published on Tuesday, April 14

Springsteen's 1973 debut album is Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'

Bruce Springsteen opened up about why Asbury Park remains a core part of his artistry.

In a New Jersey Monthly cover story published on Tuesday, April 14, The Boss revealed why the seaside town "became central" to his musical identity.

For Springsteen, visiting the New Jersey town as a child was "an eventful day" he compared to "going to the city."

Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey in August 1973Credit: David Gahr/Getty

But it was the developing music scene that made Asbury Park a magnetic place for Springsteen later on.

"In the ’60s, Moe Septee brought in every great pop act that was influential and playing in those days: the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Doors. Countless, countless—I mean, everybody came through Asbury Park," he said. "Now, at the time, I was kinda young, and I didn’t have the money to go see the shows, but I was on the boardwalk."

By the time he moved to Asbury Park circa 1968, he recalled the town experiencing a "downward trend" and riots beginning two years later.

"There was me and a small group of musicians who lived in this little seaside town and created a little local music community—the center of which was a place called the Student Prince, originally," Springsteen recalled. "The Student Prince was pre the [Stone] Pony [music venue], and that was really where I got my start."

Instead of going to Woodstock, the "Dancing in the Dark" musician recalled being "among the 150 people at the Student Prince, watching my band play, making a few bucks."

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"But the town became central to my identity, and it became central to the identity of my music…" he said of Asbury Park. "The town was filled with a bunch of characters, and I sort of took them and embroidered upon them on my first record, Greetings From Asbury Park, and [my second,] The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle."

Springsteen added that those albums "are all about my days in Asbury and on the East Coast and in this little blue-collar, sort of run-down amusement town."

Bruce Springsteen for 'New Jersey Monthly' in April 2026Credit: @dannybones64 & @transparentclinchgallery

"So it deeply affected the music that I was writing about…" he said.

Springsteen also revealed that after getting his first record deal, the label was "trying to say that I was a New York artist, because of the connection to Bob Dylan."

When it came to his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. — which was designed to look like souvenir postcard artwork — he wanted his "identity to be connected to where I actually was coming from, and…the stories I was telling."

"It gave me my own personality and character and identity, and it gave my music its grounding in where it really came from," Springsteen recalled. "And that was what I was interested in. The whole Asbury Park, the boardwalk was very central to the character I was trying to create, the world I was trying to bring to life on my first several records."

Throughout his career, Springsteen has paid tribute to his New Jersey roots, from singing about Highway 9 in “Born to Run” to filming music videos on the boardwalk.

Springsteen and the E Street Band launched their Land of Hope and Dreams American tour in March.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”