Bruce Springsteen Performs 'Born to Run' for 42nd Pan-Mass Challenge as Wife's 8-Year Cancer Battle Remits
Updated
Updated · Rolling Stone · Aug 3
Bruce Springsteen Performs 'Born to Run' for 42nd Pan-Mass Challenge as Wife's 8-Year Cancer Battle Remits
3 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Aug 3
Summary
Bruce Springsteen sent a pre-recorded message and acoustic performance of “Born to Run” to the Pan-Mass Challenge’s annual Massachusetts fundraiser on Friday, finally appearing 42 years after founder Billy Starr first invited him.
Patti Scialfa’s multiple myeloma drove the appearance: Springsteen said his wife has lived with the blood cancer for more than eight years, is treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is now in remission.
Springsteen used the message to argue that cancer research is not “a line in a budget” but the source of hope for families, praising doctors, nurses and the PMC community for saving countless lives.
Scialfa first disclosed the diagnosis in the 2024 documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,” saying the illness, diagnosed in 2018, forced her to scale back touring because it affects her immune system.
How did Bruce Springsteen’s deeply personal Pan-Mass Challenge appearance shine a new light on Patti Scialfa’s remission and Dana-Farber’s cancer research?
Could Springsteen’s virtual “Born to Run” performance help the Pan-Mass Challenge turn star power into even bigger support for cancer care?