Bruce Springsteen pays tribute to his mother Adele, who has died

2 February, 2024

Bruce and Adele Springsteen. Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage

Bruce Springsteen has paid tribute to his mother Adele, who has died at the age of 98.

Springsteen took to social media to announce his mother’s death on Wednesday, January 31. He shared a clip of the two dancing together to Glenn Miller’s 1939 classic, ‘In The Mood’, ending with the two sharing a loving kiss and a hug.

In his caption, Springsteen shared lyrics from his song, ‘The Wish’, which documented his early days and relationship with his mother. “I remember in the morning mom hearing your alarm clock ring / I’d lie in bed and listen to you getting ready for work / the sound of your makeup case on the sink / And the ladies at the office all lipstick / perfume and rustling skirts / how proud and happy you always looked walking home from work.”

“It ain’t no phone call on Sunday / flowers or a Mother’s Day card / It ain’t no house on the hill with a garden and a nice little yard / I’ve got my hot rod down on Bond Street / I’m older but you’ll know me in a glance / We’ll find us a little rock ‘n roll bar / and we’ll go out and dance,” the lyrics read.

Adele Springsteen – born Adele Zerilli in 1925 – had been dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease for over a decade, which Bruce revealed onstage in 2021. At the time, Bruce said that his mother was still able to recognise him though she was unable to speak or feed herself.

“She can’t speak. She can’t stand. She can’t feed herself. But when she sees me, there is always a smile. Still a smile. And there’s still a kiss,” Springsteen said, per Today. “And there’s a sound which she makes when she sees me. It’s just the sound but I know it means ‘I love you.’

“And when I put on Glenn Miller and she starts moving in her chair — she does, she does — she starts reaching out for me, to take her in my arms once more and to dance with her across the floor.”

Adele Springsteen, the primary breadwinner of the Springsteen household in Bruce’s youth, bought him his very first guitar at the age of seven and encouraged him to follow his passion for music.

She was also beloved and respected by Bruce’s fans, and would occasionally show up at his concerts, dancing onstage with him. One such instance includes Bruce bringing Adele out onstage at his Hard Rock Calling show in London in 2013 to dance with him during ‘Dancing In The Dark’ – watch a clip of the mother-son duo dancing together below.

Adele Springsteen is survived by Bruce and his two siblings, her six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and several extended family members.

Following the news of her death, Stevie Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band wrote on X: “The Matriarch of our family and an unrelenting source of inspiring positive energy. One of a kind. She will always be there for us. Dancing in the audience.”

 

Van Zandt’s wife Maureen wrote in her own tribute: “Adele Springsteen was a ray of light. I think she was the most joyous person I’ve ever met. I remember teaching her and her adorable sisters to dance the Tarantella onstage with the band in Italy. That’s how I’ll remember her – laughing, twirling, eyes sparkling.”

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