New Jersey legend Bruce Springsteen was spotted mingling with fans Thursday at the Jersey Shore.
The Boss made a trip to Manasqaun on Thursday as locals and news crews gathered to capture sights of Hurricane Erin’s impact along the Atlantic Coast.
Sam Pearlberg, general manager of Carlson’s Corner on 1st Avenue in Manasquan, was one of many people who saw Springsteen by the ocean..
“I wasn’t sure if it was Springsteen,” Pearlberg told NJ Advance Media on Friday. “Until I saw someone taking pictures of him.”
Pearlberg said Springsteen was taking a phone call along the boardwalk so he decided not to disturb The Boss at first. But when the music icon made his way back toward the street from the inlet, Pearlberg likened the scene to something out of a movie.
“It was like Forrest Gump when he’s running and the people are just amassing behind him,” Pearlberg said. “People were just following behind him with phones out recording and stuff like that. It was wild.”
Pearlberg and his co-worker were able to catch Springsteen as he was walking and ask for a photo, which the “Born to Run” singer agreed to.
Pearlberg recounted being in the same vicinity as Springsteen at last year’s Sea Hear Now music festival, and referred to the Freehold native as a “really cool guy” after his experience Thursday.
“He just came down here in glasses and a checkered shirt just casually walking down the inlet, seeing what was going on,” Pearlberg said. “He’s really cool.”
Springsteen has visited the Jersey Shore waterway separating Manasquan and Point Pleasant Beach since he was a child, and has been spotted by fans there on numerous occasions.
The rock star released “Lonely Night in the Park,” an outtake from the beloved “Born to Run” album, on Friday. He made headlines earlier this summer when he joined Zach Bryan to perform “Atlantic City” during Bryan’s tour stop at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
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