Bruce Springsteen was arrested for DWI and reckless driving in his home state, it was revealed Wednesday — days after he appeared in a much-hyped Super Bowl commercial for Jeep.
The “Born to Run” icon, 71, was busted Nov. 14 at Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, a spokesperson for the National Parks Service said.
Springsteen was charged with DWI, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area, and was cooperative throughout his arrest, the spokesperson said.
According to TMZ, which first reported the arrest, Springsteen has a court date in the coming weeks and has no known prior busts for DWI.
Springsteen’s rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
News of the bust broke just days after Springsteen appeared in and narrated a Super Bowl spot for Jeep, in which he implored Americans to move toward the political “middle” in the spirit of unity amid recent bitter division. [Reply]
Originally Posted by LiveSteam:
Hate the man. To bad he didnt crash into a Aids Tree and burst into flames.
Thirded. Never been a fan of his music. Hate his voice. Never understood his popularity. I've never bought a Springsteen anything - not a record, tape, CD or download - in my life. He's basically a low rent Bob Dylan. And that fact that he's a fucking asshole on top of it doesn't help. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
Thirded. Never been a fan of his music. Hate his voice. Never understood his popularity. I've never bought a Springsteen anything - not a record, tape, CD or download - in my life. He's basically a low rent Bob Dylan. And that fact that he's a fucking asshole on top of it doesn't help.
Two years ago I went to the stone pony summer outdoor concert in asbury park to see southside Johnny. Got there at 6pm to listen to the cover bands and it was great, not crowded and no lines getting a beer. Then douchey Springsteen jumps on stage with the cover band and starts playing. All hell breaks loose and within two hours he’s still on stage playing with southside Johnny and there was no room to breathe outside. He ruined the whole night and he didn’t do anything other than play the guitar and sing along to other peoples songs. I guess he did it as a favor to make them some extra cash. But people here go Gaga over the douche. [Reply]
Originally Posted by 2112:
Two years ago I went to the stone pony summer outdoor concert in asbury park to see southside Johnny. Got there at 6pm to listen to the cover bands and it was great, not crowded and no lines getting a beer. Then douchey Springsteen jumps on stage with the cover band and starts playing. All hell breaks loose and within two hours he’s still on stage playing with southside Johnny and there was no room to breathe outside. He ruined the whole night and he didn’t do anything other than play the guitar and sing along to other peoples songs. I guess he did it as a favor to make them some extra cash. But people here go Gaga over the douche.
As a fellow crowd-hating grumpy old man, I can see how that would really suck. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by displacedinMN:
Jeep did not get a lot of mileage out of that ad campaign
Jeep deletes Bruce Springsteen's Super Bowl ad from YouTube following DWI revelation
eep has removed its Super Bowl LV commercial staring Bruce Springsteen from YouTube and other social media following the revelation on Wednesday that the music superstar had been charged with DWI and reckless driving in his home state of N.J. in November.
The ad, which was titled "The Middle," featured a poem read by Trump critic Springsteen calling for Americans to come together and find common ground.
"The middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between red and blue, between servant and citizen, between our freedom and our fear," Springsteen said in a voiceover. "As for freedom, it's not the property of just the fortunate few, it belongs to us all, whoever you are, wherever you're from."
The commercial was reportedly the first that Springsteen had ever done for a brand.
New details emerge in Bruce Springsteen DUI arrest
Following news of Bruce Springsteen's November arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence, a source close to the musician is sharing more information about the incident.
"When this is all resolved, I think, people are gonna have some serious doubts about the seriousness of this, especially when the actual details of this are revealed, including the blood alcohol level," the source told CNN.
Springsteen was arrested at Gateway National Recreational Area in Sandy Hook, NJ on Nov. 14 and charged with DWI, reckless driving, and consuming alcohol in a closed area,, according to a spokesperson for the National Park Service.
That night, the source close to the singer said, Springsteen took a shot of alcohol with fans in the park after taking a photo with them. The source added that Springsteen is known to take photographs with fans. "That's typical Bruce," the source said.
"I don't know why they stopped him," the source said of the authorities. "I mean technically you're not allowed to drink in a state park and I don't know, maybe, if a policeman sees somebody drinking and doesn't give them a ticket, they lose their job," the individual added. "Any kind of alcohol related driving thing is serious," the source added.
One officer said they observed Springsteen "consume a shot of Patron tequila and then get on his motorcycle and start the engine," according to a probable cause statement obtained by CNN.
Springsteen told the officer he had consumed two shots of tequila in the past 20 minutes, according to the probable cause statement.
"SPRINGSTEEN smelt strongly of alcohol coming off his person and had glassy eyes," the officer said in the statement, adding he "was visibly swaying back and forth while I observed his eyes."
Springsteen according to the officer, took 45 total steps during the "walk and turn" test "instead of the instructed 18."
Prior to the screening the officer said he approached Springsteen and informed him alcohol was prohibited in the park, and asked if Springsteen was leaving, to which "he confirmed he was going to drive out of the park," the statement said.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Springsteen and the National Park Service for further comment.
A spokesperson for Jeep told CNN Wednesday that the company would pause running their ad including Springsteen which first debuted during the Super Bowl in light of the charges.
"It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate," a statement from the company read. "But it's also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established."
"I just hope Jeep ends up looking bad in the end," the source close to the music icon said.
CNN has reached out to Jeep for additional comment.
Springsteen is expected to have his first hearing on DWI charges "towards the end of February," a spokesman for the US Attorney's office for the district of New Jersey told CNN.
I have kind of a funny story about Bruce Springsteen.
In college me and two girl friends went to see him in Philly and Char, the super rich girl managed to both grab the tickets to the concert for all of us but also back stage tickets.
She introduced me to him in a manor which a handshake and "I appreciate your work, great music" would have been appropriate. However I managed to drink way more than the 12 pack we brought in and may have tried a couple things.
Ran up and gave him a hug and picked him up off his feet. Surprisingly no bodyguards rushed but he wasn't happy in the least.
He cooled off and I got a picture with him.
I do love most of his music though. There's far more despicable people out there than The Boss.
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
You do realize that song is political sarcasm, right? :-)
Exactly. He never served in Vietnam and he was at the perfect age for it. He didn’t go to college and He was playing music in his teens and 20’s during the war. [Reply]
I never connected with Bruce Springsteen at any point in his career. KY102 used to play Born To Run 8-12 times per day for as long as I can remember and while I never liked it, I did grow to hate it because it was always on radio. Same for Born in the USA and Glory Days. I just didn't connect with it nor did any of my friends. It was pretty shocking when I later found out that he was freaking massive on the East Coast.
Same goes for Billy Joel. I never disliked him but I had no idea that he was so freaking popular that he could sell out Madison Square Garden for 30 nights in a row. That's insane! And again, I could never connect with him on that level but I have friends from New York that can't go a day without listening to Billy Joel or Bruce Springsteen.
After moving to Los Angeles and traveling all over the country, I realized that musical popularity could be regional. It really hit me when I first arrived in LA because based on KC radio, I expected radio and the clubs to be packed with 80's Hair Metal bands but instead, it was Jane's Addiction, RHCP, Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and other synth pop bands, most of whom I'd either never heard or knew nothing about.
I was just happy that none of the LA stations played Springsteen or Billy Joel every freaking 5 minutes.
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
You do realize that song is political sarcasm, right? :-)
It’s such a peculiar song. The chorus and the way it’s sung by Springsteen feels like a rousing celebration about being proud to have been born in the USA
But the verses in between are a downbeat tale about a Vietnam vet coming back home from war with a bleak future.... [Reply]
