Even the “Boss” needs rest. American rock singer and guitarist Bruce Springsteen announced, Wednesday September 27, the postponement until 2024 of his concerts planned for this year in the United States in order to “recover from an ulcer” in his stomach.

The artist, who has just turned 74 and had already postponed his September concerts, “continues in recent weeks to recover well from a gastric ulcer and will continue his treatment for the rest of the year” 2023, according to a press release on X (formerly Twitter). It is specified that “all remaining concert dates in 2023 will be postponed to 2024”.

“Thank you to all my friends and fans for their well wishes, encouragement and support,” Bruce Springsteen wrote on his social media accounts, promising, “I’m getting better and can’t wait to see you all next year.”

His regular guitarist, American songwriter and actor Steven Van Zandt, met Wednesday evening in Manhattan at the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s new film, Killers of the Flower Moon, told Agence France-Presse that Springsteen was “getting better and better every day.”

New concert dates in 2024 will be announced soon, concerts for which 2023 tickets will be valid or refunded if necessary within thirty days, specifies the megastar’s press release.

Concerts marathon

Springsteen, with a worldwide reputation as a stage beast, had been on tour with his musicians, the E Street Band, since the beginning of the year. He also canceled concerts planned for August. A stomach or peptic ulcer, caused by bacteria, manifests itself as pain, cramps or burning in the abdomen. Just before revealing his health problems, the septuagenarian played for three hours at his home in New Jersey, under the light of a beautiful late summer moon, even unbuttoning his shirt to the delight of some of his fans.

The Boss is no stranger to marathon concerts, with a record of more than four hours in Helsinki in 2012. In 2023, he crossed the United States before playing in Europe and then returning to his country this summer. On May 13 and 15, he gave two concerts in France, at Paris-La Défense Arena.

The singer from New Jersey, a state bordering New York, whose impressive gallery of hits includes Born to Run and Dancing in the Dark, is extremely popular in the United States and Europe. Born into a Neapolitan-Irish family of working-class origins, he puts American everyday life to music, with rock, country, blues and even soul influences. Oscar winner for Streets of Philadelphia, he has accumulated awards during a long career, and sold more than 150 million records. The album Born in the USA alone, whose eponymous single is a rock classic, has sold 30 million copies.

Politically classified on the left, Bruce Springsteen also published podcasts in 2021 and 2022 with former American President Barack Obama: in the series Renegades: Born in the USA, the two men, who call themselves “friends”, converse about the great societal issues in their country: racism, multiculturalism, socio-economic inequalities, housing, family, patriarchy, etc.