Bruce Springsteen Receives Medal Of Freedom From President Obama

On Tuesday afternoon President Barack Obama awarded his last batch of Medals of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the nation. The president gave out 21 medals including one to legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce was introduced as follows, “As a songwriter, a humanitarian, America’s rock and roll laureate, and New Jersey’s greatest ambassador, Bruce Springsteen is, quite simply, The Boss. Through stories about ordinary people, to Vietnam veterans to steel workers, his songs capture the pain and the promise of the American experience. With his legendary E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen leaves everything on stage in epic, live, communal live performances that have rocked audiences for decades. With empathy and honesty, he holds up a mirror to who we are, as Americans chasing our dreams, and as human beings trying to do the right thing. There’s a place for everyone in Bruce Springsteen’s America.”

The president said of Springsteen, “I am the President, he is The Boss. And pushing 70, he is still laying down four-hour live sets. If you have not been at them, he is working! Fire-breathing rock and roll. So I thought twice about giving him a medal named for freedom, because we hope he remains, in his words, a ‘prisoner of rock and roll’ for years to come.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Diana Ross, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Lorne Michaels, Michael Jordan and Robert Redford were also among those who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Watch President Obama award Bruce Springsteen the Medal of Freedom: