HISTORY’S GREATEST LIVE PERFORMER?
Over several decades, I’ve made it a mission to see—live—some of history’s greatest musical performers … And even I’m impressed with the list:
Jethro Tull | Steppenwolf | Ten Years After | Deep Purple | Three Dog Night | David Bowie | Frank Sinatra | Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young | Bob Dylan | Bonnie Raitt | Mike Cross | Neil Young | Tom Jones | Procol Harum | Tony Bennett | The Who | Billy Joel | Cyndi Lauper | Phil Collins | Rod Stewart | Willie Nelson | Aretha Franklin | Sam Moore | Sting | Alicia Keys | Eric Clapton | The Allman Brothers | Elton John | Paul McCartney | Garth Brooks | Paul Simon | Madonna | Sarah Brightman | Andrea Bocelli | Barbara Streisand | The Beach Boys | Celine Dion | Tina Turner | Shania Twain | Cher | U2 | Stevie Wonder | Florence + The Machine | Lady Gaga | Michael Jackson | The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen…
Flashback: It’s September 21st, 2001, 10 days after the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. All four American television networks are broadcasting a live benefit concert called “America: A Tribute to Heroes.” Hundreds of candles solemnly illuminate the stage.
Opening is a New Jersey storyteller and balladeer who, for a few minutes, captures the nation’s wounded soul by singing “My City in Ruins.” It’s a song written before the 9/11 attacks and about his hometown of Asbury Park, and not New York City, wherefrom the smoke of tragedy still rises. He’s only sung this song a few times before, and only at New Jersey shows.
Now, lights up… and the sound of a harmonica and a crackly voice pierce the air:
Almost 20 years later, January 20th, 2021, it’s a different scene. A cold Washington, DC night, and America is still suffering the worst global pandemic in one-hundred years. It’s the eve of the Inauguration of a new president – a new beginning, a new chance – and the same old New Jersey storyteller and balladeer stands before the Lincoln Memorial to offer what he calls “this small prayer for our country”:
A few months later, September 11th, 2021, it’s the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 and who else but the same old New Jersey storyteller and balladeer, dressed in a black suit with a loosened black tie. He faces a crowd of widows and orphans, of families and friends of those lost on 9/11, fighting still-new tears, alongside a nation remembering:
He speaks America’s soul. Born from a land of storytellers . . . he’s our storyteller.
Bruce Springsteen and his stories have been helping America across our journey since, nearly 50 years ago, he appeared on the cover of both Time and Newsweek on October 27, 1975.
So, who’s history’s greatest live performer?
The answer is like someone telling you who the greatest baseball team of all time is—and coincidently, someone just wrote a book about this.
The answer is subjective: Elvis, Prince, Queen, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, The Who, U2, the Foo Fighters, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin… pick your favorite. But… by longevity of career, loyalty of surrounding band, length and scale of performance, depth of set list, theatrical discipline, ticket sales, originally of lyric and music, presence at historic moments, the release of 21 studio albums, 23 live albums, 77 singles, and 66 music videos, the performance of 3,513 different shows across 20 global tours, the production of an acclaimed year-long Broadway show — by 50 Grammy nominations and 20 wins, and by the subjectively spiritual energy that one gets from 3 hours with Bruce…Well, you know who I think it is. And he’s only beginning a mega-US and global tour.
So, I agree with Forbes’ Steve Baltin.
And I agree with Rolling Stones’ readers who, in 2011, voted the greatest live performer ever: Bruce Springsteen, and not even close, followed by the Rolling Stones and The Who.
And I agree with writer Leonie Cooper’s 2012 article Why Bruce Springsteen Is The Greatest Live Performer Of All Time.
He also provided a bit of inspiration for my book Creating Business Magic.
So, who’s history’s greatest live performer? Well, go watch Bruce Springsteen, age 73, and the E Street Band perform two three-hour shows last week before 117,000 people in Barcelona . . . and:
In the words of The Telegraph, giving Bruce Springsteen’s 31-city tour a five-star review before it heads back to the US for a final round: “If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the greatest rock star of our times with the greatest rock and roll band in the world, I would urge you to catch this tour.”
—David
