10 Awesome Bruce Springsteen Stories That Prove He's The Boss

The love of the common people resonates strongly with Bruce.

By Lewis Howse /

Scott Stewart/AP

Bruce Springsteen acquired the nickname 'The Boss' during The E Street Band's early days playing clubs and bars. It was Springsteen's job, as the band leader and foreman, to collect the money they made on the night and pay the band members accordingly. Yes, it was as innocuous as that. But while the moniker may have humble origins, it has grown to mean so much more to legions of Springsteen fans around the world.

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Although he has made around $150m over the last few years thanks to hit records and worldwide tours, he has frequently demonstrated that he hasn't lost the common touch. Deep down, away from all of the glitz and glamour, he's just a kid from New Jersey who wanted to sing and play guitar because he saw The Beatles on TV one night. During the short-lived The Ben Stiller Show in the early nineties, the comedian-cum-actor would play The Boss in a series of sketches called 'Legends of Springsteen' which presented fictional stories of Bruce delivering babies, cleaning up bars and saving the world from alien invasion in his spare time, playing off his reputation as a man of the people.

The funny thing is, there are some real-life Bruce stories that aren't too dissimilar from Stiller's parodies and prove that Springsteen is, was and always will be, The Boss..

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