Bruce Springsteen Turns 70, Fans Realize They ‘Ain’t That Young Anymore’
Bruce Springsteen has turned 70-years-old, and he’s looking better than ever. The Boss, who was born September 23, 1949, is being celebrated on social media as he enters the age of a septuagenarian, but his senior citizen status has fans thinking about their own old age.
Rolling Stone notes that Springsteen is a rare artist who has hit the 70s on a creative high. The “Born to Run” singer spent his 60s in experimentation mode with a one-man Broadway show, a memoir, and the surprise 19th studio album Western Stars, which will be accompanied by a documentary film about its making next month.
While Springsteen has been making radio-friendly music since the 1970s, he has never had a No. 1 hit on the pop charts, according to CNN. But the New Jersey-born rocker is one of the most honored rock stars of all time.
Springsteen has won a whopping 20 Grammy Awards, an Oscar (in 1994, for best original song for “Streets of Philadelphia”), two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, and a Kennedy Center honor. Springsteen also has several American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards dating back to 1985.
In addition, Springsteen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and he received Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2016.
Still, even with a list of accomplishments like that, it’s hard to believe that Springsteen is 70. Fans took to Twitter to wrap their heads around the fact that Springsteen — and they — “ain’t that young anymore,” a reference to the rocker’s 1975 classic “Thunder Road.”
Check out some social media reaction to The Boss’s birthday below.
Springsteen turns 70 today? Lord I'm getting old
— Tarahumara (@midsouthjefe) September 23, 2019
Bruce Springsteen just turned 70 after midnight. I’m really struggling with fact that he’s in same age decade as Mitch McConnell, Pelosi, Biden, Bernie, Warren, Mitt Romney.
He’s older than Chuck Schumer!
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) September 23, 2019
… maybe we ain't that young anymore… Happy birthday, Bruce! #Springsteen #bruce70
— Paolo Avanti (@pavanti) September 23, 2019
Springsteen has not announced plans to retire and will reportedly continue making music and touring with the E Street Band. In 2016, he told AARP he is still able to perform on stage in the same way he did at half his age.
“If I don’t do anything stupid, my body will do everything I need so I can put on the kind of show I did when I was 35. It has a lot to do with what I do when I’m not on stage. I work out carefully to the needs of my body. The rest of the time, I try to give it a break.”
Springsteen continues to inspire his younger peers in the music industry. Last month, the Jonas Brothers channeled Bruce when performing their songs “Sucker” and “Only Human” at the MTV Video Music Awards. For the performance, Joe Jonas wore a Springsteen-style denim vest and ripped jeans and sneakers in a nod to the singer’s signature look from his “Born in the USA” tour in the mid-1980s. The Jonas Brothers’ performance even took place on Springsteen’s turf at the famed Stone Pony on the Asbury Park boardwalk.
