Tzruya ‘Suki’ Lahav, original Bruce Springsteen violinist, dies aged 74

Tzurya ‘Suki’ Lahav, Israeli songwriter and poet who worked as a violist with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in the mid-70s, passed away on Wednesday at age 74. News of her passing was confirmed by her son Yonatan Lahav in a Facebook post, sharing that his mother died following a battle with cancer.

Lahav is credited with the violin part at the beginning of one of Springsteen’s beloved song ‘Jungleland’, the closer to his Born to Run album.

She also sang uncredited parts on two earlier tracks hailing off Springsteen’s The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, namely ‘Incident on 57th Street’ and ‘4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)’, for which she served as a one-woman choir when a church children’s choir failed to show.

Lahav also toured with Springsteen beginning with an October 1974 gig at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall and ending with two nights at Washington, D.C.’s DAR Constitution Hall in March 1975, playing violin and providing backing vocals during a run of 38 shows.

Additionally, she contributed to major part to a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘I Want You’, which has been a fan favorite since.

In Israel, Lahav is known as a hugely influential songwriter and poet, being a winner of the ACUM Lifetime Achievement Award and the Erik Einstein Prize.

She originally moved to the U.S. with her husband, recording engineer Louis Lahav, who recorded Springsteen's debut album Greetings From Asbury Park.