Turns out there is some surrender for Bruce Springsteen.
The singer 75, and his wife, Patti Scialfa, recently shared how their dynamic changes from performing onstage with the E Street Band to being at home with just one another.
“I think the most difficult part of being married to Bruce Springsteen, and also being in a band with him, is that you could go home and he could still think he’s in charge, right?” Howard Stern asked Scialfa, 71, on the Wednesday episode of the Howard Stern Show.
“How does one manage that? Was there an actual discussion where you had to map out, especially for your children, how Bruce should behave at home,” he continued.
“Not really. I always tried not to be a wife on stage. I really did,” Scialfa replied. “I didn’t wanna bring that on stage. And Bruce always has this great saying, and he says, ‘It’s like on stage it’s, you know, but as soon as I get my foot off the stage …’”
Springsteen chimed in: “It’s over baby.”
“It’s over,” she quipped.
“I’m only boss for three hours,” the musician admitted to Stern, 70. “Then I surrender the title, happily.”
Giving insight into their family life, with kids Evan, 34, Jessica, 32, and Samuel, 30, Scialfa shared, “You walk into our home, especially when the kids were growing up, you wouldn’t know what anybody did for a living there.”
Scialfa, who has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984, added, “There was nothing in the house that indicated there’s somebody famous in the house or this is an overwhelming situation. There are no pictures that related to the work or anything.”
In fact, their children didn’t even know they had famous parents until they were a bit older.
“Our kids didn’t know what we did until one day,” Springsteen recalled. “I think Evan came home from first grade, no, much later, even second or third, ‘Hey dad, what’s ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out?’” referencing his famous dad’s hit from the 1975 album “Born to Run.”
Stern interjected, “I hope you told him you don’t even know. I love a good love story Patti. And when you’re falling in love with the boss, and he’s literally like the boss, you know what I mean? Like, he’s your boss.”
But the couple, who tied the knot in 1991, doesn’t see it that way.
“I have to tell you I never think about it,” Scialfa confessed, to which her husband said, “I don’t think so.”
It’s safe to say the duo is a team in all senses — something they dive deeper into in Springsteen’s new documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,” which premiered earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival.
In the doc, Scialfa reveals her diagnosis with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. The guitarist explained that her health issues are the reason why she’s taken a step back from the E Street Band.
“Touring has become a challenge for me,” Scialfa shared in the doc. “This affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go.”
“Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs on stage, and that’s been a treat,” she continued. “That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
Scialfa was diagnosed during the run of the “Springsteen on Broadway” concert residency.
Springsteen recently gave an update on his other half in the trailer for the upcoming ABC news special, “Bruce Springsteen: Backstage and Backstreets.”
The rock legend simply said “she’s doing good.”