Why Bruce Springsteen Finally Opened Up to the Cameras — and What His Tour Is Really About

For most of his career, Bruce Springsteen believed that some magic was better left unseen. Letting a film crew follow him around was once unthinkable. But now, with Road Diary streaming on Hulu and Disney+, The Boss is telling his story like never before—and it’s not just about the music.

In a candid conversation, Springsteen explains why he resisted being filmed for decades, fearing it might “alter the magic trick.” That old superstition is now gone. Road Diary, directed by his longtime collaborator Thom Zimny, weaves rare archival footage—some filmed without his knowledge in the ‘70s—with raw reflections on life, mortality, and what it means to grow old with the same band of brothers you started out with. It’s more than a concert doc—it’s a meditation on friendship, loss, and resilience.

Springsteen opens up about covering the Commodores’ Nightshift—a song that hit him hard during a bar night in Red Bank after a few tequilas. It became not just a soulful tribute but a show-stopping centerpiece that encapsulates the tour’s deeper theme: people passing, lives shifting, and the quiet, beautiful ache of aging. The film pays homage to late E Street Band members Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici, offering fans an emotional reunion with their presence, preserved in vintage footage and interviews.

Not everything makes it into the documentary. Springsteen’s health scare with a peptic ulcer in 2023 is intentionally left out—he jokes it “wasn’t film-worthy,” though he admits the unexpected break gave him time to reset. What Road Diary focuses on is far more personal than physical—it’s about making sense of the times, and how that’s now become central to his performances.

As for what’s next? Beyond returning to the stage in Europe and Canada, Springsteen is watching himself be portrayed in the upcoming film Deliver Me From Nowhere, which covers the making of his raw 1982 album Nebraska. He’s seen pieces of Jeremy Allen White’s performance and calls the experience of revisiting those early years both surreal and “fantastic.” In typical Boss fashion, he even caught a flying basketball at a Lakers game in the meantime—because of course he did.

Looking ahead, Springsteen says his next tour leg will reflect on America’s current moment. He sees it as part of an artist’s job—to make sense of a country in crisis, and to give meaning to the madness through music. If Road Diary is any indication, he’s still doing that with a full heart, a clear voice, and nothing left to prove.