Bruce Springsteen took the stage near the end of the opening ceremony for Obama Presidential Center, following a moving speech by President Obama, and performances by Eddie Vedder, John Legend, U2’s Bono and the Edge, Christina Aguilera, and many others. He performed his 1999 song “Land of Hope and Dreams,” which was the theme of his recent politically-charged tour with the E Street Band.
“I’m so glad to be here this afternoon for President Obama, and Michelle, Malia, Sasha,” he said. “You know how I love you all. ‘Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continuously strive to improve this great nation of ours.’ That was from President Obama’s speech in Selma. President Obama and Michelle, you have exemplified that ideal with lives that have served us all with heart and commitment and love and compassion. This is ‘Land of Hope and Dream.’ This is for you.”
Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama have a connection that goes back nearly two decades to the 2008 campaign. In the closing days, Springsteen delivered speeches and performed songs at several Obama rallies. “I think he understands in his heart the cost of that distance in blood and in suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans,” Springsteen said during a rally in Philadelphia. ” And I believe that as President, I think he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous Administration of the past eight years, what we really need is we need somebody to lead us in an American reclamation project.”
After Obama was elected, Springsteen agreed to perform at the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial, just two days prior to the inauguration, where he shared the stage with Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, U2, James Taylor, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, and many other superstars. Springsteen played “The Rising” early in the show with the Joyce Garrett Singers, and returned near the end to sing “This Land Is Your Land” with Pete Seeger and Tao Rodríguez-Seeger.
Eight years later, practically to the day, Springsteen played a private show at the White House for Obama and his senior staff in the East Room. The solo acoustic show he put together, featuring a rare live rendition of “My Father’s House” and a duet with Patti Scialfa on “Tougher Than The Rest,” became the framework for Springsteen’s one-man Broadway show later that year.
Springsteen and Obama remained close after President Donald Trump took office. In 2021, they launched the eight-part podcast Renegades: Born in the USA that was adapted into a book late that year. “Now I joke with Bruce, because I don’t understand why a kid from New Jersey thinks he’s an outsider,” Obama told CBS This Morning while promoting the book. “Now, I’m an outsider. You can definitely understand why Barack Obama is the outsider. What I do think we both shared was that since having questions about how do we fit into the existing narrative, how do we fit into the communities that we’re born into.”
