Bruce Springsteen is an icon, of course, who has had songs misunderstood, while he has also made his political views clear. Ronald Reagan, for instance, totally didn't understand what the rock star was saying in "Born in the U.S.A." when the then-president made a campaign stop in New Jersey in 1984.
Springsteen has been clearer and clearer about his political stances over the last few decades, if there was any doubt before. The legend also spoke plainly on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week. He was a guest in the final days of Colbert's iteration of the long-running program, one in which Colbert was forced to leave.
The New Jersey native told the audience and Colbert, "I am here in support tonight for Stephen, because you are the first guy in America who lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke. And because Larry and David Ellison (the owners of CBS parent company, Paramount) feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want. Stephen, these are small-minded people. They got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about."
Bruce Springsteen drops poignant magic on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The rock icon also delivered "Streets of Minneapolis," a song he released in 2026 about the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers. He didn't have a backing band, of course, just like on the single itself.
Springsteen's performance is as somber as the lyrics, toned down and proper. The tune definitely has ties to his Nebraska sound, but also a connection to Bob Dylan's best protest tunes from the 1960s. This is the kind of music that the rock legend has been trying to embrace since the 1980s, and he's good at creating such music. (Just listen to Nebraska for further proof.)
Stephen Colbert's last show on CBS's The Late Show will be on Thursday, May 21, but the ending is a surprise known only to the host and his staff. It will certainly be must-watch TV, just as many of his shows have been. The next step in his career appears to be penning a script for a new Lord of the Rings film called Shadow of the Past.
As for Bruce Springsteen, he has several tour dates remaining in May. Those include the following:
- 05/22 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Arena
- 05/24 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
- 05/27 — Washington, DC @ Nationals Park
- 05/30 — Philadelphia, PA @ Xfinity Mobile Arena
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