Bruce Springsteen on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” in 2016.
It was announced today that Bruce Springsteen will perform on the second-to-last episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” The final week’s schedule is:
May 18: The Worst of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (not a clip show)
May 19: Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, performance by David Byrne and Stephen Colbert
May 20: Colbert takes the “Colbert Questionert” featuring special guests, performance by Bruce Springsteen
May 21: “The Late Show” series finale
Springsteen previously appeared on Colbert’s show in 2016, 2020 (virtually) and 2021. Here are some clips:
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After Springsteen released his protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” earlier this year, Colbert said, in a monologue:
“Trump’s PR problem is about to get worse because yesterday, Bruce Springsteen dropped a new anti-ICE protest song called ‘Streets of Minneapolis,’ which, obviously, echoes his 1993 hit ‘Streets of Philadelphia,’ which was about the AIDS crisis. It just goes to prove the old adage: You really don’t want Bruce Springsteen to write a song about your streets. Not even Sesame. ‘(sings) Oscar’s in the trash can …’
“The song came out yesterday afternoon, and Springsteen released a statement saying, ‘I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday, and released it to you today.’ Okay, well, I also had a productive weekend. I did laundry on Saturday, put it in the dryer Sunday, and it’s still in the basket today. We’re both kind of The Boss.
“You will not be surprised that the lyrics are poignant and powerful, and here’s a taste. (plays excerpt) Thank you, Bruce. Yeah. That’s amazing. That’s lovely. … Do you know how hard it is to rhyme with Minneapolis? ‘(sings) I went to the farmer’s market/But forgot my apple list.’ This sends a powerful message. Springsteen is as American as it gets. He’s the working man’s Poet Laureate. He’s the New Jersey State bird, okay? It’s time for ICE to get out of there …”
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