Bruce Springsteen brought down the house at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards on Sunday with his moving rendition of “My Hometown.”
The performance, a spoken word adaptation from his hit solo show Springsteen On Broadway was introduced by Robert De Niro who earned a standing ovation (and a bleep from the censors) when he proclaimed “Fuck Trump” at the beginning of his speech. The legendary actor then said “Bruce, you can rock the house the no one else, and even more important in these perilous times, you rock the vote.”
De Niro quicky moved on and graciously introduced the performance, acknowledging the popularity of Springsteen’s Broadway run with the quip “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get tickets for Bruce Springsteen’s show on Broadway?”
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Springsteen also took the stage on Sunday to recieve a special Tony Award for his wildly successful show, presented by fellow local icon Billy Joel.
Springsteen on Broadway features a career-spanning setlist that highlights both classics and deep cuts interspersed with tales from the road – many of which can be found in 2016 memoir, Born to Run.
“It’s all about the man and his music,” Joel explained while welcoming Springsteen to the stage. “Thank you for bringing hundreds of thousands of new theatregoers to Broadway.”
Springsteen said he “greatly appreciated” his chance to perform on Broadway, which he called a “thrill” and an “honor..”