May 9, 1974
Critic Declares Springsteen Future of Rock and Roll
Region:
Greater Boston
On this day in 1974, 25-year-old Bruce Springsteen played at the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge. Although popular with the college crowd in the Northeast, Springsteen was not yet a star. That night, he and the E Street Band opened for Bonnie Raitt. The influential music critic Jon Landau was in the audience. Overwhelmed by what he heard, Landau wrote, "I saw my rock and roll past flash before my eyes. I saw something else: I saw rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen." In the years since that momentous spring night in Cambridge, "the Boss" has had 14 albums go platinum, has won 20 Grammies and an Oscar, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.