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THEN: It’s easy to forget that long before he was a hunky superstar, Long Branch-born, Freehold-raised Bruce Springsteen was a scruffy singer/songwriter fronting bands on the Jersey Shore club scene. As he gained success, Springsteen mostly eschewed the over-the-top temptations of the flesh to which many of his rock contemporaries fell prey. Yet from the start, his music was as much about ill-fated lovers and steamy assignations under the boardwalk as it was about blue-collar dreamers and black-leather schemers. Indeed, according to Peter Ames Carlin’s new biography, Bruce, the young Springsteen had a long series of girlfriends, some of whom—like Diane Lozito, the inspiration for “Rosalita”—he immortalized in song. So who was Springsteen to resist the attentions of the adoring fans that surrounded him on a Red Bank street, far left, in October 1979?
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NOW: Although he’s still known to wander out among fans and friends down the Shore, for the past two decades Springsteen has been the paragon of faithful husband and dedicated dad. Here he is seen in a rare photo with his entire nuclear family, from left: Patti Scialfa, his wife of 21 years; sons Sam (who turns 19 in January) and Evan (22); and equestrian daughter Jessica (21). The photo was taken in November 2008 after Jessica won the Maclay ASPCA Horsemanship award in Syracuse, New York.