Bruce Springsteen’s wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer in 2018.
The 71-year-old revealed her health news for the first time in the documentary, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sunday.
“I’ve been performing with this band for 40 years. With those first performances, it felt so good to be back onstage. Touring has become a challenge for me,” Scialfa said in the documentary, reports People. “In 2018, well, Bruce and I were doing a play on Broadway. I was diagnosed with early-stage multiple myeloma.”
Scialfa explained that she has to be more cautious about when and where she performs live.
“This affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” she shared. “Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs onstage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
Multiple myeloma affects plasma cells, a type of white blood cell, and the cancerous plasma cells build up in a person’s bone marrow.
The singer-songwriter and guitarist joined Springsteen’s backing band, the E Street Band, in 1984 and they began dating after he separated from his first wife, Julianne Phillips, in the late ’80s. They tied the knot in 1991 and have three children: sons Evan, 34, and Sam, 30, and daughter Jessica, 32.
Road Diary, which premieres on Hulu and Disney+ on 25 October, follows the 74-year-old rocker and his band as they embark on their first tour since 2017.
Springsteen attended the world premiere and participated in a post-screening Q&A at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on Sunday. Scialfa did not accompany him.
