Bruce Springsteen basically has his own Hall Of Fame. Every year, Monmouth University's Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center Tor American Music holds its American Music Honors, recognizing some of the most important figures in American popular music. On Saturday night, this year's American Music Honors ceremony happened at the the Pollak Theatre, and it recognized Smokey Robinson, John Fogerty, Emmylou Harris, Tom Morello, and Joe Ely. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Springsteen himself was so present during the ceremony that he joked, "If I hear my name again, I’m going to fucking throw up. Let’s talk about fucking someone else."
Brian Williams hosted last night's ceremony, and Springsteen's bandmates Patti Scialfa, Steve Van Zandt, and Nils Lofgren also performed and made speeches. Other than Smokey Robinson, all of this year's honorees have performed with Springsteen in the past. So has Jackson Browne, one of last year's honorees, who gave a surprise performance on Saturday night. But as far as we can tell, this was the first time that Springsteen and Robinson, two of the towering figures of American pop music, have ever performed together. During the ceremony, Van Zandt and Robinson sang Robinson and the Miracles' classic "The Tears Of A Clown" together, and then Springsteen joined them both for "Going To A Go-Go." Watch fan footage of those two performances below.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_G1ucXGSN0s
https://youtube.com/watch?v=S83B6Y88frA
Bruce Springsteen's much-anticipated box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums is out 6/27 on Sony Music. Smokey Robinson just released his new covers collection What The World Needs Now on Friday.
