MONMOUTH, NJ (CelebrityAccess) — Bruce Springsteen and his E Street bandmate and wife, Patti Scialfa have both reportedly contracted COVID-19 following a sold-out hometown show at the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday night.
According to NJArts.net, both Springsteen and Scialfa were scheduled to appear at a benefit for the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch at the university’s Pollak Theatre.
However, Executive director Bob Santelli told the audience that the husband and wife duo would not be able to attend the event due to their illness.
“It broke our hearts around 6 a.m. this morning when I got a call that two of the most important people who were supposed to be here, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, unfortunately came down with COVID,” Santelli told the crowd, according to Variety.
Despite not attending in person, Springsteen appeared virtually in video segment that was recorded earlier in the day.
Comedian Jon Stewart, who hosted the event, reassured the crowd that both Springsteen and Scialfa were feeling well despite the diagnosis.
“They’re alive. Don’t overreact,” Stewart said, according to Variety. “You can still see them in concert. They’re home sitting by the fire eating French onion soup.”
The archives, which first opened in 2011, collect a range of material on Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and serves as an official repository for his music, along with photos, artifacts, rare recordings and other ephemera.
