Bruce Springsteen's Cousin Found Dead

Rocker Bruce Springsteen canceled an appearance at the Spirit Center in Kansas City, US, last night (10-26-09) after his cousin Lenny Sullivan’s body was found in a hotel room earlier in the day.

Lenny, 36, was assistant road manager to Bruce’s backing group The E Street Band. His death is not being treated as suspicious.

A statement on 60-year-old Bruce’s website promised the show will take place at a later date.

“A warm and sensitive person, he was beloved by Bruce, the band, the crew, and the entire Thrill Hill family," the statement said.

“Bruce and the band deeply appreciate the understanding of our Kansas City audience and look forward to returning at the earliest opportunity."

Bruce and the E Street Band were due to perform at part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert this Thursday (10-29-09) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, but there has been no word on whether this will still take place.

However, fellow music veteran Eric Clapton has pulled out of the show to have gallstones removed.

A statement from the ‘Wonderful Tonight’ star said the 64-year-old musician “will spend time recuperating at home in the UK and is very sorry to disappoint the fans and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

The Prodigy

Bruce Springsteen has dubbed Jay Weinberg, son of long time E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, "The Prodigy". At 18 years of age, Jay has been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

As many know, Max Weinberg not only plays drums for the E Street Band, but he is also head of the Max Weinberg 7; the house band for Conan O'Brien's talk show. With the premiere of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien coinciding with Bruce Springsteen's current world tour, scheduling conflicts were sure to become an issue.

The fix? Replace Max with his son Jay. Great drumming is sure to be in the genes, right? Well...it must be considering Jay had never wrapped his hands around a set of drumsticks until he was 14 years old. And just four short years later, Jay is rocking out with the "heart-stopping, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, legendary" E Street Band.

Seeing Jay perform live, Bruce is right on! "The Prodigy" Jay is. What a joy to see this young man put his heart and soul into playing songs that, in some cases, are twice as old as he is. Rock on Jay!

Bruce Springsteen is set to perform on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

Bruce Springsteen will appear solo on the Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” to perform the title track of his new release, “Working on a Dream,” tomorrow (March 19) at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on COMEDY CENTRAL. This mark's only the fourth time that "The Daily Show" has invited a musical act to perform on the show, with previous appearances by "The White Stripes," who performed on December 1, 2005, Tom Waits, who performed on November 28, 2006, and Coldplay who performed on June 25, 2008. Springsteen’s performance will be available online the following day at http://www.thedailyshow.com/.

Obama's Inauguration Packed With Celebs

Geez, the upcoming Jan. 20th Inauguration is really getting out of control! Not only is it a hugely historial moment for The United States, but it sure is getting A-List celeb appearances left and right! Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder and Garth Brooks have joined a diverse lineup of musicians who will perform at Obama's Jan. 18 welcome concert on the National Mall. Bruce and Beyonce?! We'll take it.

Also set to appear are Bono, Josh Groban, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am, John Mellencamp and Shakira, while Queen Latifah, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx and Martin Luther King III will read historic passages. Wowza, we told you it's pretty packed with celebs!

Happy Halloween From Bruce Springsteen

As a ghoulish Halloween treat to loyal fans, Bruce Springsteen is offering a free audio download and streaming peek at the video for the previously unheard track “A Night with the Jersey Devil” on his website . Both audio and video will be available on the site from 12:01am Friday, October 31 until 11:59pm Sunday, November 2. The creepy video for “A Night with the Jersey Devil” was directed by long-time Springsteen visual-collaborator Thom Zimny.

Springsteen posted the following note on brucespringsteen.net:

“Dear Friends and Fans,

If you grew up in Central or South Jersey you grew up with the ‘Jersey Devil’. Here’s a little musical Halloween treat. Have fun!

Bruce Springsteen”

Springsteen to Rock Out the Superbowl

What do U2, Paul McCartney, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Sting and Phil Collins have in common? They're all among the rock legends that have graced the stage of the Superbowl Halftime Show in recent years. The NFL announced Sunday that Bruce Springsteen will be the next all-star to take the stage at Superbowl XLIII.

"The Boss" along with the E-Street Band will be playing the halftime show in Miami Fla. on Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium.

Last year's halftime show was watched by more than 148 million viewers in the U.S., said the NFL. It wasn't always that way: until 1988's performance of Chubby Checker, the game's halftime show was made up of local and college marching bands and drill teams.

Michael Jackson became the first superstar to perform in 1993, and his sister Janet Jackson became immortal in halftime history with her 2004 "wardrobe malfunction."

Danny Federici Has Passed Away

Danny Federici, the keyboardist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, died on Thursday at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Federici, has battled melanoma for three years and passed away at the age of fifty-eight.

From “Hungry Heart” through “The Rising,” Federici’s musical styling helped to define E street Band, and he last performed with them during a show in Indianapolis on March 20th.

Springsteen has postponed his concerts scheduled for this weekend and issued the following statement about Federici’s death:

“Danny and I worked together for 40 years — he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much ... we grew up together.”

In addition to performing with Springsteen, Federici’s has also played on the albums of several other well-known artists including Van Zandt, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Garland Jeffreys, In 1997, he released a solo jazz album Flemington, which he followed-up with his second solo album Out of a Dream in 2002.