Bruce Springsteen isn’t dancing in the dough — at least not to billionaire status.
The 75-year-old rock legend denies the July Forbes report “conservatively estimating” him to be worth $1.1 billion.
“I’m not a billionaire,” he told The Telegraph. “I wish I was, but they got that real wrong. I’ve spent too much money on superfluous things.”
But Springsteen explained that, after years of struggling before making it big, you want to enjoy “your good fortune” because “you put the work in.”
Still — although he sold his music catalog to Sony for $500 million in 2021 — money was never his biggest motive when it came to his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame career.
“That’s usually where people go south,” said Springsteen, who was driven to protect his talent at all costs. “If I had failed at that, I would have failed at everything, in my opinion.”
Investing in his creative pursuits, Springsteen has generously compensated his beloved E Street Band.
“I pay them a tremendous amount of money,” he said at a London screening of his new documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.”
“That greases the wheels pretty good,” he went on. “And then I’m a pretty nice boss. The truth is you need to cast your band well.”
Springsteen credited his longtime band as the secret to his success — and longevity — as a road warrior.
“If you get the art right, the music right, and the band right, you go out and play every night like it’s your last night on Earth. That was the serial philosophy of the band, and we’re sticking to it.”
Springsteen sideman Steven Van Zandt, also at the London screening, said that the E Street Band hasn’t been driven by dollars either.
“It was never a commercial enterprise,” he said. “This has been an artistic adventure from the beginning.
“So anyone joining knew that was what they were getting into,” he continued. “Now luckily we found some commercial calling ground along the way, which was great.”
Indeed, Springsteen and the E Street Band reached blockbuster heights 40 years ago with 1984’s “Born in the U.S.A.” album and tour.
And four decades later, the band is still going strong — against all odds.
“The actual arc of rock ’n’ roll bands is to break up,” said Springsteen, who will be played by Jeremy Allen White in an upcoming biopic. “Think about it, how many bands have stayed together against how many who broke up?”