Bruce Springsteen performs Born To Run in full as tribute to James Gandolfini

Bruce Springsteen played his classic 1975 album Born To Run in full yesterday (June 20) as a tribute to the actor James Gandolfini, who passed away yesterday at the age of 51.

Springsteen turned his show at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena into a tribute to the late actor, who had worked with E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt on The Sopranos.

Hidden Track reports that 12 songs into his set, Springsteen announced that he and his band would be playing the classic album in full and were dedicating its performance to Gandolfini. Over the weekend Springsteen performed his 1978 album Darkness On The Edge Of Town in full at his show at Wembley Stadium.

Of the death of Gandolfini, Steven Van Zandt wrote on Twitter: “I have lost a brother and a best friend. The world has lost one of the greatest actors of all time.” Other musicians including Kings Of Leon, Slash and Justin Timberlake have also paid tribute to Gandolfini, with Nathan Followill of Kings Of Leon tweeting: “RIP James Gandolfini Such sad news.”

Gandolfini played Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano in the acclaimed TV series between 1999 and 2007, winning a Golden Globe and three Emmys for his performances. Responding to news of his death, the show’s creator David Chase said in a statement: “He was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. I remember telling him many times, ‘You don’t get it. You’re like Mozart.'”

Bruce Springsteen played:

The Ghost Of Tom Joad

American Land