Bruce Springsteen performs in Seville, Spain, in May 2012.
Known for his lengthy and intense concerts, Springsteen performs with the E Street Band in Barcelona, Spain, in May 2012. His concerts are marathons that can run three hours or more.
Springsteen attends a screening of "The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town" at the Rome Film Festival in Italy in November 2010. The documentary examined his 1978 album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," which marked a turning point for the musician and his band.
Springsteen joins opera singer Grace Bumbry and actor Robert De Niro at a December 2009 reception for Kennedy Center honorees hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House.
Springsteen and the E Street Band put on a rousing halftime show at the Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida, in February 2009.
Springsteen performs at a rally for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in Cleveland on November 2, 2008, two days before the election.
Springsteen performs with the E Street Band in Frankfurt, Germany, in May 2006. The singer is generally known as inspiring and upbeat, but there's also an angry side to him.
Springsteen, who has earned a reputation for being outspoken about his political views, greets supporters with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry at a Miami rally shortly before the 2004 election.
Springsteen with guitarist Steven Van Zandt in Madrid, Spain, in 2003. The two have been playing together since the early 1970s.
Springsteen celebrates with Clarence Clemons, left, and Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a 1999 event in New York.
Springsteen is joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson at a rally opposing Prop 209 in Los Angeles in 1996. The initiative was a ballot measure banning affirmative action by government in California.
Tracy Chapman, Sting and Springsteen appear at an Amnesty International benefit concert in 1988 in Philadelphia.
Springsteen delivers one of his passionate performances during the 1985 "Born in the U.S.A. Tour'"in Los Angeles. Already a star for a decade, that album made the singer a phenomenon.
Springsteen during the "Born in the U.S.A" tour in Oakland, California, in 1985. The singer bristled when Ronald Reagan invoked his name and music in a campaign speech at the height of that album's success.
The singer and the E Street Band -- clockwise, top right, Garry Tallent, Springsteen, Max Weinberg, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan and Steve Van Zandt in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1979.
Springsteen and Clarence Clemons during the "Born to Run" tour in 1975.
Springsteen in 1975. The singer made the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines that year.
Springsteen in 1973 on the Jersey Shore, where he grew up.
More than 40 years after his first album, Springsteen remains a source of fascination.