Bruce Spingsteen: Autobiography and Album Details Confirmed

Bruce Springsteen has confirmed the release date of his autobiography, Born to Run – and the companion album, Chapter and Verse. The book will be published internationally, including in Ireland, on September 27 and it will be predated by the album, which will be available from September 23.

The man they call The Boss has described Born To Run as a story of “poetry, danger, and darkness.” Publishers Simon & Schuster had revealed in February that Springsteen spent seven years writing the autobiography. Legend has it that he began to work on it as far back as 2009, after a performance with the E Street Band, during half-time at the Super Bowl.

Born to Run recounts the story of Bruce's boyhood in Freehold, New Jersey and tells of his "relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band.”

“Writing about yourself is a funny business,” Springsteen has said. “But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.”

Simon & Schuster will publish Born to Run in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India. The publishers were also responsible for Springsteen’s illustrated book Outlaw Pete, which hit the shelves in 2014. Born to Run will also be published in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Born to Run, will be published in hardcover, e-book, and audio editions.

“If you were to ask any publisher to name a cultural figure whose autobiography would provoke the greatest enthusiasm, Bruce Springsteen’s name would be on every list,” Ian Chapman, the CEO of Simon & Schuster UK said, when the memoir was announced earlier this year. “Beyond being one of the most admired individuals in the world, he is a captivating storyteller with a unique way of expressing himself.”

The career-spanning compilation album Chapter and Verse – a companion to Born To Run – will be released by Columbia Records on September 23, four days before the publication of Born to Run. Five of the album’s 18 tracks have never been released.

Springsteen selected the songs on Chapter and Verse to reflect the themes and sections of Born to Run. The compilation begins with two tracks from The Castiles, featuring Springsteen as a teenager on guitar and vocals, and ends with the title track from 2012’s Wrecking Ball. The collected songs trace Springsteen’s musical history from his earliest days, telling a story that parallels the narrative arc of the book.

Recordings from Steel Mill and The Bruce Springsteen Band feature musicians who went on to play in The E Street Band. Solo demos of 'Henry Boy' and 'Growin’ Up' were cut in 1972, shortly before Springsteen began recording his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

Chapter and Verse will be available as a single CD and double LP, as well as via digital download and streaming. The package will include lyrics and rare photos.