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Bruce Springsteen speaks onstage with Bono during the 2026 Tribeca Festival <\/p>\n
Getty Images for Tribeca Festival<\/p>\n
There\u2019 something particularly poetic about Bruce Springsteen receiving this year\u2019s Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the Tribeca Festival.<\/p>\n
The award, introduced by festival founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal and followed by a lengthy conversation with Bono on June 13, comes as the festival celebrates its 25th anniversary, a week after Springsteen cut the ribbon on the new Center for American Music in New Jersey that bears his name, and as he concludes his Land of Hope & Dreams Tour across the U.S.\u2014an impassioned urging for the return of democracy and evisceration of the Trump administration through song and speech.<\/p>\n
Dedicating the accolade to the people of Minneapolis, Portland and Los Angeles who\u2019ve stood \u201cagainst the federal invasion of their cities this year,\u201d the 20-time Grammy winner acknowledged, \u201cI\u2019m a little embarrassed to get this award. At best,\u201d he told Bono, \u201cI\u2019m just a concerned citizen. And what do I do? I sing my songs, I say a few things and wish for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his introduction, De Niro characteristically pulled no punches as he praised Springsteen\u2019s ability to \u201cmove people with the music he creates\u2026 He uses it to lead the resistance. He knows what the problem is and he names it: Donald J. Trump and his feckless enablers. That\u2019s so important, because this isn’t about reasonable disputes on policy. This is about the corruption and megalomania of one person. Bruce Springsteen puts a face on it, and he does it with the words of a poet.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Springsteen put it, \u201cI warned everybody what the tour was going to be like so they didn\u2019t waste their money before they came in. So I figured I did my job and it was every man for himself after that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bono, another musician who knows a thing or two about using his art and platform to speak out against injustice, guided an insightful conversation that touched on topics ranging from how to reopen doors of human connection to the origin story of Springsteen\u2019s Oscar-winning song \u201cStreets of Philadelphia\u201d to Springsteen\u2019s ability, or not, to still connect with the everyman. <\/p>\n
\u201cAre we on the left ready to accept that we sometimes lose touch with working people. People who are out on the street and doing a day\u2019s job and who have been the subjects of your [songs] for over 40 years? I fear sometimes that the young and the left have just lost a little bit of that. And that the accusations of elitism that are out there for people like me are not inaccurate,\u201d Bono mused. \u201cHas it cost you? Do you feel torn at all thinking there\u2019s people in this town that used to come see my shows who don\u2019t now? Or have you made peace with that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d Springsteen answered. \u201cYou have to do two things. There\u2019s the classic folk song, \u201cWhich Side Are You On?\u201d\u2014you have to make your stand and follow your beliefs and you have to have the faith in them that they will be explicable and understandable by your fellow citizens. And you have to believe that America is a sacred argument and a compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I said when I was on the road\u2026 people aren\u2019t supposed to be agreeing with each other all the time, it was born in disagreement. It’s a blessed, sacred argument that you’re supposed to be having every day with your fellow citizens and with your representatives. That’s embedded in the country itself,\u201d Springsteen continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe key to that is you have an argument while recognizing each other’s common humanity and<\/p>\n
dignity. That is in short supply at the moment from obviously the top of our administration on down. But it\u2019s through that argument and through that recognition of your fellow citizens\u2014your brothers and your sisters and your neighbors\u2014that\u2019s where you find a common narrative. It’s very difficult for a country to survive intact without a common story it tells itself about itself. And I think we’re in a struggle for that today.\u201d <\/p>\n
He ultimately landed on optimism, adding, \u201cI believe we’re going to find that narrative because I believe America renews itself. I’m in the hearts and minds business and so you change those in a group or one at a time. That’s my job\u2026 and that’s essential to maintaining not just the humanity in my heart but the humanity in my audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his legacy of uplifting social justice, Springsteen has always been particular about the opportunities he says yes to\u2014something Bono took the opportunity to lightheartedly revisit. After listing several past failed inquiries for his friend to sign various petitions, Bono recalled getting a firm \u201cno\u201d when he asked Springsteen to license his 2007 song \u201cGirls In Their Summer Clothes\u201d for a Gap commercial. Bono at the time was partnering with the clothing brand for the (PRODUCT) RED campaign to raise funds to stem the spread of HIV\/AIDS in Africa. <\/p>\n
Springsteen jumped in on this one. \u201cThat was a big mistake, too, I should\u2019ve said yes,\u201d he said., telling the crowd the song is a personal favorite despite not having commercial success. \u201cI should have f\u2013king done it. I have to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of the conversation, the two welcomed to the stage fellow artist and activist Patti Smith, who accompanied by Tony Shanahan performed two songs\u2014\u201cPeaceable Kingdom\u201d and \u201cPeople Have the Power,\u201d with Springsteen backing her on acoustic guitar for the latter. <\/p>\n
Then came a surprise for all in the audience. Springsteen changed up guitars, stepped up to the mic and delivered a stunning, soulful version of \u201cLand of Hope and Dreams.\u201d Amid the standing ovation, Springsteen offered one final prophetic gesture before leaving the stage: \u201cGo Knicks!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen speaks onstage with Bono during the 2026 Tribeca Festival Getty Images for Tribeca Festival There\u2019 something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14963,19633,146,85,46,70282,30499,45022,205605,627],"class_list":["post-493089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bono","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-patti-smith","tag-robert-de-niro","tag-social-justice","tag-tribeca-festival","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}