Editing Bruce Springsteen (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Freehold High School.jpg|thumb|Springsteen attended [[Freehold High School]] in [[Freehold Borough, New Jersey]], where a former teacher described him as a "loner who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar". He graduated in 1967, but felt so alienated that he skipped his graduation ceremony.<ref name="Springsteen. Robert Hilburn 1985, p. 28">''Springsteen''. Robert Hilburn, 1985, p. 28.</ref>]]
Springsteen was born at [[Monmouth Medical Center]] in [[Long Branch, New Jersey]], on September 23, 1949,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cross |first=Charles R. |title=Backstreets: Springsteen – the man and his music |publisher=Harmony Books |year=1992 |isbn=0-517-58929-X |page=40}}</ref> to Douglas Frederick "Dutch" Springsteen (1924–1998) and his wife, Adele Ann (née Zerilli; 1925–2024).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://ew.com/bruce-springsteen-mourns-death-mother-adele-98-8557767|title=Bruce Springsteen mourns death of mother Adele at 98, quotes song written for her|first=Shania|last=Russell|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|date=February 1, 2024|accessdate=February 2, 2024|archive-date=February 2, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202003419/https://ew.com/bruce-springsteen-mourns-death-mother-adele-98-8557767|url-status=live}}</ref> Springsteen's father<ref name="Douglas-obit-Asbury-Park-Press">{{Cite news |date=May 3, 1998 |title=Douglas Springsteen, father of rock star, Belmont, Calif. |language=en |page=36 |work=Asbury Park Press |location=Asbury Park, New Jersey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144343133/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030162436/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144343133/ |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |quote=Douglas F. Springsteen, father of rock star Bruce Springsteen, died April 26 at home. He was 73. Mr. Springsteen was a former bus driver at San Francisco Airport and an Army veteran of World War II. He was a former communicant of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Freehold, and graduated from its school in 1939. Born in Freehold, he lived there for most of his life before moving to California in 1969. |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Flynn |first=Fiona |date=May 27, 2016 |title=9 things you may not have known about Bruce Springsteen |url=https://entertainment.ie/music/9-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-bruce-springsteen-258657 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020155/https://entertainment.ie/music/9-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-bruce-springsteen-258657/ |archive-date=February 7, 2019 |access-date=February 6, 2019 |website=Entertainment.ie}}</ref> worked as a bus driver and other jobs.<ref name="Douglas-obit-Asbury-Park-Press" /> His father had mental health issues throughout his life, which worsened in his later life.<ref name="RS2">{{Cite magazine |last=Green |first=Andy |date=September 27, 2016 |title=Bruce Springsteen's Enthralling New Memoir: 10 Things We Learned |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bruce-springsteens-enthralling-new-memoir-10-things-we-learned-127609/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916235750/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bruce-springsteens-enthralling-new-memoir-10-things-we-learned-127609/ |archive-date=September 16, 2018}}</ref> His mother, who was originally from the [[Bay Ridge]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn, New York]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexander |first=John |date=October 31, 2019 |title=Bruce Springsteen's mother was 'born to run' in Brooklyn |url=https://brooklynreporter.com/2019/10/bruce-springsteens-mother-was-born-to-run-in-brooklyn/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727044332/https://brooklynreporter.com/2019/10/bruce-springsteens-mother-was-born-to-run-in-brooklyn/ |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |website=[[Brooklyn Reporter]]}}</ref> worked as a legal secretary and was the family's main breadwinner.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Italian American Contributions |url=http://www.niaf.org/research/contribution.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520214950/https://www.niaf.org/research/contribution.asp |archive-date=May 20, 2013 |access-date=June 21, 2013 |publisher=National Italian American Foundation}}</ref> He is of Dutch, Irish, and Italian descent,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bruce Springsteen visits his Irish ancestral roots as the E Street Band plays Dublin |url=https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/2023/05/07/bruce-springsteen-visits-irish-ancestral-roots-while-on-tour/70192031007/ |access-date=September 24, 2023 |website=Asbury Park Press |language=en-US |archive-date=March 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305105411/https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/2023/05/07/bruce-springsteen-visits-irish-ancestral-roots-while-on-tour/70192031007/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and grew up [[Catholic]] in [[Freehold Borough, New Jersey|Freehold, New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2024/10/bruce-springsteen-says-people-are-still-calling-him-springstein.html|title=Bruce Springsteen says people are still calling him 'Springstein'|first=Amy |last=Kuperinsky|website=NJ.com|date=October 14, 2024}}</ref>

Springsteen's paternal ancestors were among the early Dutch families who, in the 17th century, settled in [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial-era America]], then part of the [[Dutch Republic]] known as [[New Netherland]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Luongo |first=Michael |date=November 21, 2019 |title=My Hometown: exploring Bruce Springsteen's New Jersey roots |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/nov/21/freehold-new-jersey-us-bruce-springsteen-hometown-tours |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307173108/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/nov/21/freehold-new-jersey-us-bruce-springsteen-hometown-tours |archive-date=March 7, 2020 |access-date=March 8, 2020 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Springsteen's paternal ancestor, John Springsteen, was a [[Patriot (American Revolution)|patriot]] in the [[American Revolution]], which evolved into the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The Springsteen surname originates in [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]], a province in the [[Netherlands]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 4, 2020 |title=Doris Day and Bruce Springsteen's Groningen Roots |url=https://northerntimes.nl/doris-day-and-bruce-springsteen-can-trace-their-roots-to-groningen |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926092152/https://northerntimes.nl/doris-day-and-bruce-springsteen-can-trace-their-roots-to-groningen/ |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |website=The Northern Times}}</ref> and is [[topographic name|topographic]], translating to "jump stone" and meaning a [[wikt:stepping stone|stepping stone]] used on unpaved streets or between two houses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Celebrity Baby Names: Paul Stanley – Family Education |url=http://baby-names.familyeducation.com/celebrities/s/484 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309130003/http://baby-names.familyeducation.com/celebrities/s/484 |archive-date=March 9, 2016 |access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Springsteen: His Hometown' exhibit to open in Freehold Borough |date=July 30, 2019 |url=https://centraljersey.com/2019/07/30/springsteen-his-hometown-exhibit-to-open-sept-29/?amp |access-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603161226/https://centraljersey.com/2019/07/30/springsteen-his-hometown-exhibit-to-open-sept-29/?amp |url-status=live}}</ref> Springsteen's Italian maternal grandfather was born in [[Vico Equense]] and emigrated through [[Ellis Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Carol |date=June 5, 2013 |title=Bruce Springsteen Falls In Love With Chocolate Guitar From Sicily |url=http://www.italymagazine.com/news/bruce-springsteen-falls-love-chocolate-guitar-sicily |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111182505/https://www.italymagazine.com/news/bruce-springsteen-falls-love-chocolate-guitar-sicily |archive-date=January 11, 2019 |access-date=January 11, 2019 |website=ITALY Magazine}}</ref> He arrived in the United States unable to read or write English, but went on to become a lawyer and impressed the young Springsteen as being "larger than life".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UXcArb4nT4 Bruce Springsteen accepts Ellis Island award with mother and aunts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519230131/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UXcArb4nT4 |date=May 19, 2021}}. Video. Published July 16, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2019.</ref>

Springsteen has two younger sisters, Virginia and [[Pamela Springsteen|Pamela]] (born {{circa}} 1962). Pamela Springsteen worked briefly as an actress and later as a photographer; she took photos for three Springsteen albums, ''[[Human Touch]]'', ''[[Lucky Town]]'', and ''[[The Ghost of Tom Joad]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pamela Springsteen Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pamela-springsteen-mn0001801733/credits |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727051152/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pamela-springsteen-mn0001801733/credits |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |access-date=March 8, 2020 |publisher=AllMusic}}</ref>

Springsteen attended the St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Freehold, where he was at odds with the nuns and rebelled against the strictures imposed upon him, though some of his later music reflected a Catholic ethos and included [[Irish Catholic]] hymns with a rock music twist.<ref name="glorydays">{{Cite book |last=Marsh |first=Dave |title=Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s |year=1987 |pages=88–89}}</ref> In 2012, Springsteen said that it was his Catholic upbringing rather than his political ideology that most influenced his music. He said his faith gave him a "very active spiritual life" but joked that this "made it very difficult sexually" and added "once a Catholic, always a Catholic".<ref name="RS2" /><ref>Editors, "Boss Talk", ''The Tablet,'' February 25, 2012.</ref> He grew up hearing fellow New Jersey singer [[Frank Sinatra]] on the radio, and became interested in being a musician by the age of seven after seeing [[Elvis Presley]]'s performances on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in 1956 and 1957. Soon after, his mother rented him a guitar from Mike Diehl's Music in Freehold for $6 a week, but it failed to provide him with the instant gratification he desired.{{sfn|Statham|2013|pp=8–9}}

In ninth grade, Springsteen entered [[Freehold High School]], a public high school, but did not fit in there either. A former teacher said Springsteen was a "loner who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar". He graduated in 1967, but felt so alienated that he skipped his graduation ceremony.<ref name="Springsteen. Robert Hilburn 1985, p. 28"/> He briefly attended [[Ocean County College]], but dropped out.<ref name="glorydays" /> At age 19, Springsteen was [[Conscription in the United States|drafted]], but failed his physical examination because of a [[concussion]] he suffered in a motorcycle accident two years earlier combined with his behavior at induction, both of which reportedly made him unacceptable for [[military service]]. In failing his examination, Springsteen likely avoided conscripted service in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Loder |first=Kurt |date=December 6, 1984 |title=The Rolling Stone Interview: Bruce Springsteen |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/5933449 |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421085029/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/5933449 |archive-date=April 21, 2009 |access-date=March 21, 2010}}</ref> In 1969, when he was 20 years old, Springsteen's parents and sister Pamela moved to [[San Mateo, California]]; he and his sister Virginia, who was married and pregnant at the time, remained in Freehold.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 27, 1975 |title=The Backstreet Phantom of Rock |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,913583-4,00.html |url-status=live |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030110837/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,913583-4,00.html |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |access-date=October 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Gary |date=October 6, 2018 |title=Springsteen Pt. 1 – Freehold Days |url=https://michiganrockandrollegends.com/index.php/blog/262-springsteen-pt-1-freehold-days |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=Michigan Rock and Roll Legends}}{{dead link|date=June 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wire Reports |date=May 2, 1998 |title=Douglas Springsteen; Father of Famed Singer |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-02-mn-45638-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030150116/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-02-mn-45638-story.html |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jordan |first=Chris |date=October 21, 2019 |title=Bruce Springsteen talks personal trilogy, John Wayne and 'Western Stars': The transcript |url=https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/10/21/bruce-springsteen-western-stars-mental-health-therapy-john-wayne-western-stars-transcript/3989703002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20191024212956/https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/10/21/bruce-springsteen-western-stars-mental-health-therapy-john-wayne-western-stars-transcript/3989703002/ |archive-date=October 24, 2019 |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=Asbury Park Press}}</ref>