American singing legend Bruce Springsteen will come out with an autobiography in September in which he recounts his relentless drive to become a musician and for the first time tells the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work.
"Born To Run", to be published by Simon & Schuster, will hit bookstores on September 27, the publishers announced today.
It will be published in hardcover, ebook, and audio editions in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and India, and rights have already been sold to publishers in nine countries.
Springsteen has been privately writing the autobiography over the past seven years. He began work in 2009, after performing with the E Street Band at the Super Bowl's halftime show.
In "Born to Run", Springsteen describes growing up in Freehold, New Jersey amid the "poetry, danger, and darkness" that fuelled his imagination.
He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band.
He also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song "Born to Run" reveals more than we previously realised.
"Writing about yourself is a funny business," Springsteen notes in his book.
"But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I've tried to do this," he adds.
"This is the book we've been hoping for," says Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster.
"Readers will see their own lives in Bruce Springsteen's extraordinary story, just as we recognise ourselves in his songs."
Simon & Schuster acquired "Born to Run" in an exclusive submission from Springsteen's legal representatives, Allen Grubman and Jonathan Ehrlich of the law firm Grubman Shire & Meiselas.
Simon & Schuster previously published Springsteen's illustrated book with Frank Caruso, Outlaw Pete, in 2014.
Springsteen has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of 20 Grammy Awards, the Academy Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors.
"We are privileged and proud to publish the memoir of The Boss, to whom we grew up listening. His book transcends the life of a rock legend and is immensely engaging, like his songs," says Rahul Srivastava, managing director of Simon & Schuster, India.
