For the first time in six years, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited for this year’s Letter To You. The project debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard albums charts making it Springsteen’s sixth consecutive decade with a top-five album, a feat that only he has been able to accomplish. Making sure that their reunion is a full experience that fans can enjoy, Springsteen and the E Street Band took their talents to Saturday Night Live to perform together for the first time in nearly four years.
Just like many artists have done during their SNL appearances this season, Springsteen and the band performed a pair of songs for the limited audience, starting with “Ghosts” before concluding the night with “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” The exhilarating performances saw The Boss and company fully rocked-out on stage. Unfortunately for their set, the entire E Street Band was not there due to coronavirus restrictions. Earlier this week, Springsteen revealed that founding bassist Garry Tallent and violinist Soozie Tyrell would not appear at the SNL performance because of “restrictions and concerns.” Tallent was replaced by Jack Daley of the Disciples of Soul for their set.
Springsteen’s SNL set comes after he recently explained why he’s never recorded a Christmas album. “The thing is, you only want to do it around Christmas time, but you don’t want to do it then either, because it’s around Christmas time and you don’t feel like working,” he said on a recent The Tonight Show appearance. “Then Christmas time goes away and you gotta do it in the summertime when you just don’t feel like it. So, we haven’t gotten around to it. Maybe one of these days.”
You can watch the SNL performances in the videos above.