Bruce Springsteen Dedicates ‘The Promised Land’ Performance To Renee Good

Bruce Springsteen made an unannounced appearance at the annual Light Of Day Foundation benefit held Saturday at Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. During his performance with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers, Springsteen spoke out against the ongoing presence of ICE agents in the Minneapolis area and dedicated “The Promised Land” to Renee Good.

Springsteen played several songs with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers. The benefit concert’s other participants included Gary U.S. Bonds, Danny Clinch, Willie Nile and Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik

Springsteen’s address to the audience echoed a statement made by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in the wake of Good’s death. “As the mayor of that city has said, ‘ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis,’” Springsteen asserted.

Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7. Before performing “The Promised Land,” Springsteen ended his statement by saying, “This song is for you, and the memory of the mother of three and American citizen, Renee Good.”

Last year, Springsteen frequently spoke out against the Trump administration’s policies. The Boss included a recording of the lengthy statement he made about what he called “some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now,” on the 2025 live EP, Land Of Hope & Dreams.

Watch Springsteen’s speech and “The Promised Land” performance below:

“The Promised Land” Introduction Transcript

“This next song is probably one of my greatest songs. And I don’t want to be out of water tonight, but I wrote this song as an ode to American possibility. Both to the beautiful but flawed country that we are, and to the country that we could be. Right now we are living through incredibly critical times. The United States — the ideals and the values for which it stood for the past 250 years — is being tested as it has never been in modern times. Those values, and those ideals, have never been as endangered as they are right now.

“So as we gather tonight in this beautiful display of love and care and thoughtfulness and community, if you believe in democracy, in liberty — if you believe that truth still matters, and that it’s worth speaking out, and it’s worth fighting for — if you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it, if you stand against heavily armed, masked, federal troops invading an American city, and using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens, if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest.

“Then send a message to this president, and as the mayor of that city has said, ‘ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.’ So this song is for you, and the memory of the mother of three and American citizen, Renee Good.”