Bruce Springsteen joins Zach Bryan on stage in NYC for surprise guest performance

28 March 2024, 13:11

'The Boss' has forever been 'Born to Run'.

These days it's more like jet-setting, as Bruce Springsteen made a cross-country trip to make a guest appearance alongside country star Zach Bryan.

A matter of hours (48 in fact) after his concert in San Diego on the West Coast of the US, Springsteen made his way to Brooklyn Barclay's Center for a surprise performance.

Chalking up some serious air miles in the process, his appearance alongside Bryan was even more remarkable given he had a scheduled gig at San Francisco's Chase Center just a day later.

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There's no doubt that nobody within the Brooklyn venue expected Bruce to walk on stage on Wednesday night, despite Bryan donning a sleeveless Springsteen t-shirt for his concert.

After months of recovering from his peptic ulcer disease and having to cancel a run of shows himself, 'The Boss' is back in business, and is willing to span the length of the United States to prove it.

Joining Bryan for a rendition of the country star's 2020 favourite 'Revival', Bruce exchanged lyrics with Zach throughout and even had a whirl at a solo on his beaten Fender guitar.

There was also a treat for long-time Springsteen fans that may've been in the audience, as he performed an unreleased song 'Sandpaper'.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was clearly having a grand time, looking much younger than his 74 years.

Budding country pop singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers joined Bryan earlier in the evening for 'Dawns', the 2023 song they both duetted on.

Rogers returned for the encore to sing alongside both Bryan and Bruce as they performed a raucous rendition of 'Revival'.

Bruce seemingly needs little excuse to sling on his guitar and join a pal for a song whenever he's in the area, let alone flying across the country only to return the following day.

Though, after singing 'Revival' together, there could be a friendly rivalry blossoming between Bryan and Bruce, after a recent record that Zach broke.

In Springsteen's home state of New Jersey at the Prudential Center in Newark on 15th March, Bryan broke the record for the highest-ever attendance at a concert.

As part of his 'Quittin Time' tour, the concert broke a 16-year-plus record with 19,151 guests in attendance.

Surely Springsteen, in his own backyard, might be eyeing up Newark for a stop on his resuming global tour.