BBC confirms celebration of key Bruce Springsteen anniversary with new night of programming
The special event will chronicle the artist's unique relationship with the UK.
Bruce Springsteen is set to be celebrated by the BBC in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his first ever UK concert.
The 75-year-old US legend will take centre stage in a brand new way with a look back at his first ever performance in an hour-long documentary, When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain.
Rachel Davies, commissioning editor for BBC Music, said: "Bruce Springsteen is not only a global music icon, but he’s an honorary Brit here in the UK - he’s become one of our own!"
In the film, Springsteen will give a sit-down interview to reflect on his first concert at Hammersmith Odeon back in November 1975, when he was just 26 years old.
Promoting his smash-hit album Born to Run at the time, Springsteen sold out the massive venue, now known as the Eventim Apollo, as he was billed as the 'new Bob Dylan' to UK audiences.
However, he was so upset by how the show went down that he refused to watch any footage of it for more than 30 years.
Giving never-before-seen insight into the concert, Bruce shares his perspective about what happened, saying he had 'PTSD' in the aftermath of the show.
"I went to a party that was supposed to celebrate my triumph, but I felt I’d been terrible and so I was embarrassed to even go in," he tells cameras in the chat.
"I went in for a few minutes, couldn’t stand myself being there, went out, ran back to the hotel, sat in my lonely room under a big black cloud, ate whatever I had and went to bed... I had PTSD from the first Hammersmith show!"
Yet thankfully Springsteen was able to pull back, and returned to the venue just a week later to a bigger success.
Despite this, it would be six years before he would make his comeback to the UK - at which point he was so huge he had a six-night residency at London’s Wembley Arena, as well as touring around the country.
Joining Springsteen in the documentary is guitarist and E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt, friends and fellow songwriters Sting and Peter Gabriel, as well as Sir Michael Palin, who wrote about the first Hammersmith gig in his famous diary.
Music promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Springsteen’s legendary manager and producer Jon Landau and Gavin & Stacey’s Rob Brydon – a self-proclaimed Springsteen superfan – will also appear to talk about Springsteen’s long-standing influence.
The special shares how the working-class hero helped UK miners during the '80s strikes, too, and how he affected fans across the world.
On top of When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain, the special night will also include a broadcast of the Hammersmith Odeon ‘75 concert, and an episode of Bruce Springsteen at the BBC, which compiles the band’s most notable performances across the decades.
The night of programming comes after it was announced that Springsteen's life is being turned into a biopic called Deliver Me From Nowhere.
The Bear star Jeremy Allen White will play a young version of the New Jersey-born star, while Stephen Graham will be portraying Springsteen's father.
It is based on the book of the same name by Warren Zanes, and follows Springsteen in 1982, during the production and release of his album Nebraska.
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Authors
Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.
