Bruce Springsteen isn’t affected by billionaire status, E Street bandmate Steven Van Zandt says

Bruce Springsteen was named a billionaire by Forbes last month. Photo / Getty Images

Bruce Springsteen isn’t affected by his new billionaire status, according to his E Street bandmate Steven Van Zandt.

Forbes magazine recently revealed “The Boss” has an estimated net worth of US$1.1 billion (NZ$1.85b) thanks to the lucrative sale of his music back catalogue in 2021 and his extensive touring. But his longtime pal Van Zandt is adamant the musician continues to work because he loves performing and “the money has absolutely no factor” in his career decisions.

Van Zandt told The Independent newspaper: “I’m not sure how accurate that [Forbes report] is, first of all. But I don’t think it matters, honestly.”

Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on stage at Wembley Stadium in July. Photo / Getty Images

“When you have enough money to live, that’s the point where it matters. Do you continue to work? Or do you retire on a yacht and drink mojitos off the coast of Portugal? The fact is: this is what we do. And so the money has absolutely no factor. It hasn’t affected [him] for many, many years. Ever since, really, [1984 album] Born in the USA. What’s that, 40 years?

“So no matter how many zeros is on the bank account, it doesn’t make any difference!”

Van Zandt also joked: “It’s great for me because I’m gonna definitely borrow some money, I tell you that. I’m joking, of course ... My bookie’s gonna love him. I’m joking again!”

Springsteen previously recalled that the felt uncomfortable when he first started making good money from his music because it set him apart from everyone he grew up with in his home town in New Jersey.

In Warren Zanes’ 2023 book Deliver Me From Nowhere, the musician explained: “I was solvent, which would make me unique in my little neighbourhood. So I was dealing with that, with all my very conflicted feelings about being so separate from the people that I’d grown up around and that I wrote about.”

Bruce Springsteen is one of a few celebrities who have reached the billionaire mark. Photo / Getty Images

Springsteen has become one of the few celebrities to have grown their net worth to more than US$1b, joining the likes of Oprah Winfrey, New Zealand film director Peter Jackson, and fellow singers such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Jay-Z.

Springsteen made the majority of his impressive fortune in recent years. In 2021, the rock star landed a deal to sell his music catalogue to Sony Music, where he was paid between an estimated US$500 million to $550m ($831m to $914m) for his records.

The Sony-Springsteen deal was the largest payment ever made for an artist’s music collection. The largest made before that was in 2020 when Universal Music bought Bob Dylan’s music catalogue for more than US$300m ($499m), the Guardian reported.