![\"Ethan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ethan-Hawke-Actor-2025-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Credits: Far Out \/ Bryan Berlin)<\/p>\n
Wed 14 January 2026 9:34, UK <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a true music fan, there is a good chance that you have spent some time soundtracking most of the big events in your life. It might be a birthday party, a wedding or, for the more morbid among us, your funeral. To plan a funeral playlist might well be self-indulgent, but it is certainly the kind of endeavour that music fans like Ethan Hawke<\/a> take part in. <\/p>\n Hawke\u2019s been a part of the music industry for some time. He famously directed Lisa Loeb\u2019s 1990s hit \u2018Stay\u2019, has routinely compared Willie Nelson to The Beatles, and just generally thrown his hat in the ring when it comes to talking about music. And so, when given the chance to pick a song for his funeral, he dutifully obliged. <\/p>\n Hawke was born in Texas, and although the actor identifies as a Texan, it was New Jersey which turned him into the man he is today. It\u2019s also the birthplace of the musician he wants to soundtrack his funeral.<\/p>\n Hawke\u2019s parents were both students at the University of Texas when he was born, but he moved to New York with his mother after their split. They only lived there for a few years before eventually settling in New Jersey, and this was where Hawke began to understand himself. It\u2019s the place of firsts for him, where he first fell in love, and his first concert, which he credits with changing him forever.<\/p>\n The first show he attended was no ordinary concert; it was Bruce Springsteen at the peak of his powers, and since that night, \u2018The Boss\u2019 has remained an ever-present in his life. Springsteen is also the artist Hawke wants to have played as he takes his final flight.<\/p>\n Looking back at that show, Hawke told VICE<\/a>: \u201cMy first concert as a teenager was Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA tour, 1984 at the Meadowlands. That was his poppiest album, and I was 14, so it was my first exposure to him. I was blown away by that concert.<\/p>\n \u201cIt changed my life because I\u2019d been hearing about rock \u2018n\u2019 roll as this important thing in the \u201870s\u2014what it meant to the peace movement\u2014but I didn\u2019t really feel how rock \u2018n\u2019 roll could change the way you think about everything until I saw that concert. Then I got The River and Darkness on the Edge of Town, which are much darker and, I would say, better albums. But they\u2019re all great.\u201d<\/p>\n He poignantly added: \u201cIt\u2019s very hard for me to separate my teenage years in New Jersey from Bruce Springsteen. When I think of Jersey and growing up, and I think of Springsteen, Seaside Heights, and roller skating rinks in Hamilton.\u201d<\/p>\n Born In The USA was the gateway drug which encouraged Hawke to dive deeper into his repertoire of material. However, it\u2019s \u2018Hungry Heart\u2019 from The River, which he wants played at his funeral.<\/p>\n![\"Bruce](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Bruce-Springsteen-Nebraska-1982-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>A young Bruce Springsteen. (Credits: Columbia)<\/p>\n