Bruce Springsteen opened his run of solo Broadway shows on Tuesday night (04Oct17) with a tribute to Tom Petty.
Hours after The Boss honoured his “long lost brother” in a heartfelt statement, he hit the stage at the Walter Kerr Theatre with more to say on the passing of his friend.
The singer-songwriter dedicated the concert to the 66-year-old, who died on Monday (02Oct17) after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California.
In his Twitter salute to Petty earlier in the day, Bruce wrote: “Down here on E Street, we’re devastated and heartbroken over the death of Tom Petty. Our hearts go out to his family and bandmates. I’ve always felt a deep kinship with his music. A great songwriter and performer, whenever we saw each other, it was like running into a long lost brother. Our world will be a sadder place without him.”
Springsteen kicked off his Broadway run with Growin’ Up and My Hometown.
He played a total of 13 tracks, including hits and fan favourites like Born in the U.S.A., The Ghost of Tom Joad, and Dancing in the Dark, and ended the night with Born to Run.
The rocker recently extended his Springsteen on Broadway residency after the initial 10-week run sold out in a day.
Springsteen on Broadway was billed to run from 3 October (17) to the end of November (17), but the rocker has added another 10 weeks of intimate solo shows at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where he’ll play for 1,000 fans a night.
The run is now scheduled to end in early February (18).