“I was all set to say goodbye, and Bruce asked me to come outside. There and then he asked me if I wanted to join”: Nils Lofgren on how the Bruce Springsteen gig saved his life at his lowest point

Nils Lofgren and Bruce Springsteen.

Nils Lofgren’s life changed with the invite to go play some guitar with a friend. It was Bruce Springsteen on the phone, and he was wondering if Lofgren could come over.

“‘Jam with the band,’ is how Bruce phrased it,” said Lofgren, speaking to Guitar World in 1988. “I thought it was a little funny, really, ‘cause it was only four weeks or so until the start of the tour. And, you know, the E Street Band has something like a million songs at their instant recall.”