Bruce Springsteen’s wife and bandmate Patti Scialfa reveals blood cancer diagnosis
“Touring has become a challenge for me,” she said in a new documentary.
Patti Scialfa, the wife and bandmate of Bruce Springsteen, has revealed that she was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2018.
Scialfa revealed the diagnosis in the new Hulu/Disney+ film Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which comes out next month and documents the band’s recent stadium tour.
Discussing her diagnosis with multiple myeloma, which arrived during her husband’s Broadway residency in 2018, she said: “It felt so good to be back on stage. Touring has become a challenge for me.
“[The illness] affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go. Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs on stage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
Scialfa has been present on stage for parts of Springsteen’s 2024 UK and European stadium tour with The E Street Band.
Reviewing their first of two shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in July, Rolling Stone UK said: “This septuagenarian might be blessed with the irrepressible energy and verve of someone half his age, but his frank discussion of being the sole surviving member of his first ever band is a striking reminder that nothing lasts forever.”
It added: “And yet, when you watch Springsteen across three hours, you’ll be damn near convinced that he can go on for as long as he likes.”