Bruce Springsteen shared a kind-hearted speech and an acoustic rendition of “Born to Run” with a cancer research and treatment organization in Massachusetts on Friday night. The musician sent a pre-recorded message to played at an annual event for the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), a yearly bike ride that raises funds for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Billy Starr, founder and chairman of PMC, initially invited Springsteen to the ride in 1984. The Boss finally showed up, albeit virtually, 42 years later. “We’re a little late, but here we are and it’s a pleasure to be with you,” Springsteen noted in the video. “Since 1980, you have inspired a community that has done something remarkable. You’ve never stopped believing that ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference. And because of that countless lives have been saved.”
Springsteen has a personal connection to the cause, as he relayed to viewers. His wife, Patti Scialfa, is being treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for multiple myeloma. The musician acknowledged that Scialfa “has been living with her multiple myeloma for over eight years, but now thankfully she is in remission.”
“However, like millions of families facing cancer, we’ve learned what every patient learns, [that] hope has a face,” Springsteen said. “It’s our physician who refuses to stop searching and caring, [and] it’s our nurse who sits beside us when we’re scared and always makes our journey just a little bit easier.”
Springsteen added that his wife’s journey has taught him that “medical research isn’t an idea.” “It isn’t politics,” he said. “It isn’t a line in a budget. It’s the reason families find hope when hope seems hardest to find. When we lose sight of that, we lose sight of one another, and that’s too high a price for anyone to pay.”
He concluded, “I’ve spent my life writing songs about the people who keep believing when life gives them every reason not to and for those who refuse to leave someone behind. That’s always been the best of America to Patti and I. … Now, more than ever, the world needs more everyday heroes like the folks who make up the PMC.”
Springsteen said he would perform “one of my best riding songs” before launching into an acoustic version of “Born to Run.”
Scialfa revealed her cancer diagnosis in 2024 documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. She explained that she was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2018, leading her to take a significant step back from touring and live performances.
“It felt so good to be back on stage. Touring has become a challenge for me,” Scialfa shared in the documentary, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. “This affects my immune system, so I have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go.”
