{"id":703530,"date":"2026-06-14T12:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T12:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703530\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T12:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T12:37:09","slug":"bruce-springsteen-apologizes-to-bono-sings-with-patti-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703530\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen Apologizes to Bono, Sings With Patti Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOn the final day (June 13) of an eventful Tribeca Festival, Bono, Patti Smith and Tribeca co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal<\/a> gathered in lower Manhattan to honor Bruce Springsteen<\/a> with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m a little embarrassed to get this award,\u201d Springsteen, who dedicated the award to the people of Minneapolis, Portland and Los Angeles for standing \u201cagainst the federal invasion of their cities this year,\u201d admitted during a lengthy sit-down conversation with Bono. \u201cI\u2019m just a concerned citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMuch like Springsteen\u2019s recent Land of Hopes & Dreams Tour,<\/a> the main topic of concern at this Tribeca Storytellers event was the erosion of democracy in America and President Trump\u2019s federal overreach. Prior to the conversation, De Niro and Rosenthal introduced the Boss and explained why he was receiving the award.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a man who knows how to use his voice,\u201d explained the Oscar-winning actor. \u201cHe uses it to give voice to the powerless and he uses it to lead the resistance. He is fearless and direct. He knows what the problem is and he names it: Donald Trump. Donald J. Trump and his feckless enablers. That\u2019s so important because this isn\u2019t 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

\n\tThough a peer and a self-professed \u201cfan masquerading as a friend,\u201d Bono asked thoughtful and even tough questions of Springsteen during their chat.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking about a rock star\u2019s ability (or inability) to connect with the working class, which both Bono and Springsteen came from, the U2 frontman said, \u201cI fear sometimes we on the left lost a little bit of it and that the accusations of elitism that are out there for people like me are not inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHas it cost you?\u201d Bono asked Springsteen. \u201cDo 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

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d Springsteen candidly answered. \u201cYou have to do two things. There\u2019s the classic folk song, \u201cWhich Side Are You On?\u201d: you 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

\n\tElsewhere in the chat, Springsteen pointed out that no one should have shown up to his recent tour \u2013 the most explicitly political one he\u2019s done in a career marked by socio-political concerns \u2013 expecting anything different from what they got. \u201cI warned everybody what the tour was gonna be like so they didn\u2019t waste their money before they came,\u201d Springsteen said with a chuckle. \u201cI figured I did my job and it was every man for himself after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite his consistent activism, Springsteen chooses his battles carefully. Bono shared that in the past he\u2019s asked the Boss to sign various petitions and has been politely but firmly turned down. Bono recalled asking Springsteen to license his 2007 song \u201cGirls In Their Summer Clothes\u201d for a Gap commercial when Bono joined up with the clothing brand for the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, which raised money to fight HIV\/AIDS in Africa. Springsteen\u2019s response? No.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat was a big mistake, too,\u201d Springsteen cut in, seemingly to Bono\u2019s surprise. \u201cI should have said yes.\u201d Explaining it was one of his favorite songs even if it wasn\u2019t a hit, Springsteen admitted, \u201cI should have f\u2013king done it. I have to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter standing up and hugging it out, the two welcomed a third Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Patti Smith, to the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center stage. With Tony Shanahan on keys, she performed a soft plea for peace, \u201cPeaceable Kingdom,\u201d which was inspired by Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in 2003 while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

\n\tSmith then performed a live favorite of hers, \u201cPeople Have the Power,\u201d a rousing call-to-activism. Springsteen and Shanahan backed her on acoustic guitar, and though Bono left the stage, Bruce called him back out to contribute backup vocals (which he also did).<\/p>\n

\n\tNothing on the advance program<\/a> promised a live performance from Springsteen, but everyone in the crowd was quietly hoping for a little something (key word: quietly, unlike the extremely vocal fans at Miley Cyrus\u2019 Tribeca Q&A last year<\/a> who heckled until she sang something, though her event never promised music). Springsteen did, in fact, perform, offering up an utterly mesmerizing solo version of \u201cLand of Hope and Dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore leaving the stage amid a standing ovation, Springsteen offered up one more important thought to the New York City audience: \u201cGo Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the final day (June 13) of an eventful Tribeca Festival, Bono, Patti Smith and Tribeca co-founders Robert…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,2695,9262,63651],"class_list":["post-703530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-genre-rock","tag-nsfs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}