Introducing Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story

How did the greats become the greats? And what did it cost them to get there? Legend is the award-winning music biography series from BBC Radio 4 exploring the lives of pioneering artists who shaped modern music.

In Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story, we discover how a scrawny, long-haired introvert from small-town New Jersey became the iconic, muscular – and oft-misunderstood – rock star of the 1980s, and ultimately the eloquent elder statesmen he is today. What does his story reveal about America?

Across the series, Laura Barton takes a front-row seat at five key gigs that illuminate a different side of The Boss – from teenage Bruce at The Upstage Club in Asbury Park, to the electrifying final night of the Born In The U.S.A tour in front of 80,000 fans, to an emotional homecoming show in his own Freehold school gym, to his most recent tour, Land of Hope and Dreams.

We delve into Springsteen’s periods of isolation and depression, and explore the personal cost of fame, and of standing up for what he believes in – a path that hasn’t always been easy.

Featuring Bruce in his own words across the decades, alongside voices from the E Street Band, devoted fans, biographers, and critics.

Listen from Friday 10 October, first on BBC Sounds.

A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

Producer: Eliza Lomas

Sound Design and Original Music: Hannis Brown

Series Developer: Mair Bosworth

Production Coordinator: Stuart Laws

Additional Research: Sarah Goodman

Series Editor: Emma Harding

Commissioning Editors: Daniel Clarke and Matthew Dodd

Assistant Commissioner Podcasts: Will Drysdale