Bruce Springsteen's Relationship With Patti Scialfa, Bandmates For Decades, Married With 3 Kids

This holiday season just got better for Bruce Springsteen fans, as they are now overjoyed that his biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, is now available digitally. For those who are unaware, it's available to stream on VOD platforms such as Amazon Prime Video. Initially, the film was released in theatres a few months ago, on October 24, 2025. Directed by Scott Cooper and starring Jeremy Allen White as the legendary American rock star, the film portrays Bruce as a tortured genius and an unreliable lover.

While that might have been the case back in the 1980s, 'The Boss', as we know him now, has been happily married for over three decades. Bruce Springsteen tied the knot with his bandmate, Patti Scialfa, in 1991, with whom he now shares three children. This is Bruce's second marriage as he was formerly married to actress, Juilianne Phillips from 1985 to 1989. If you are interested in learning more about Bruce's relationship and eventual marriage to his now-wife, Patti, and their children, here's everything we know about them. 

Bruce Springsteen invited Patti Scialfa to join his E Street Band in 1984 

Both Bruce Springsteen and his now-wife, Patti Scialfa, spent their childhood in New Jersey. Still, the duo's first encounter was by telephone rather than face-to-face. According to Bruce's 2016 autobiography, Born to Run, she phoned him after seeing a newspaper ad seeking background singers for Bruce's band. At the time, Bruce was reportedly 21, while Patti was only 17, which led him to turn her down for the opportunity, stating there was too much travel involved for a high schooler.  

However, things soon changed when Bruce Springsteen saw Patti Scialfa perform live at the Stony Pony, which is a famous rock club in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He claimed that after he heard her sing the Exciters’ hit, Tell Him, he “fell in love” with her voice. Following her performance, Bruce soon introduced himself to her at the back bar. Ever since then, the two kept on meeting at the Stony Pony “for a cocktail and a dance.”  

Later in 1984, while Bruce Springsteen was preparing for his Born in the USA tour, he invited Patti to join his live ensemble as not only a backing vocalist but also a guitarist and keyboardist. Taking him up on the offer, Patti made her debut onstage with the E Street Band on June 29, 1984, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Recalling this time, Bruce wrote in his autobiography: 

"Through Patti's addition, I wanted to accomplish two things. One, I wanted to improve our musicality. I wanted dependable, well-sung harmony vocals. Two, I wanted my band to reflect my evolving audience, an audience that was becoming increasingly grown-up and whose lives were about men and women.” 

Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa fell in love when the rock star was still married  

In the same year that Bruce met Patti, he was also introduced to actress, Juilianne Phillips by their agents. According to Bruce, they soon “hit it off and began seeing each other regularly.” They decided to marry only a year after meeting, in 1985, in Juilianne's hometown of Lake Oswego, Oregon. However, their marital bliss was not long-lasting. Soon after their wedding, Bruce Springsteen started having “a series of severe anxiety attacks,” plagued with the fear that he wouldn't be able to make it past two or three years with a partner, as he's never done it before.  

Bruce channelled his fears as a husband into songs he wrote and performed during the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express tour. It was in this same tour that his bond with Patti Scialfa grew particularly strong. In Born to Run, Bruce wrote: 

"Patti was a musician, was close to my age, had seen me on the road in all of my many guises and viewed me with a knowing eye. She knew I was no white knight (perhaps a dark gray knight at best), and I never felt the need to pretend around her. Julie had never asked me to either; I just did." 

Allegedly, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa's friendship soon took on a more romantic form, as his then-wife was away filming on location. Left alone in New Jersey, he often met with Patti under the guise of working on their ‘duets’. He claimed:

"There came a moment when I looked at Patti and saw something different, something new, something I'd missed and hadn't experienced before. In my life, Patti is a singularity. So, it started. At first, I told myself it was just 'a thing.' It wasn't. It was the thing." 

As soon as he came to terms with his feelings for Patti, he broke the news to his ex-wife, Juilianne, which resulted in their separation. Bruce realised later that he had failed his young bride “as a husband and partner.” Eventually, in August 1988, Juilianne filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.  

Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa got married in 1991 and share three children  

As per reports, Bruce Springsteen and his now-wife, Patti Scialfa, moved in together after the end of their band's Tunnel of Love tour in August 1988. Although the two settled together in California, Bruce struggled with avoidant habits at the time, and Patti was patient with him “to a point.” After finally making up his mind to marry the “best woman” he's ever known, the couple took their vows at their estate in Beverly Hills in 1991.  

The couple shares three children together. They welcomed their first child, Evan James, in 1990, a year before their marriage. If reports are to be believed, Evan works as a music programmer for Apple in New York City. In December of the following year, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa welcomed their second child and only daughter, Jessica Rae. Today, you might recognise her as a professional equestrian who won a silver medal in the team jumping competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021. Lastly, the pair welcomed their third and youngest child, Samuel Ryan, in January 1994. In 2019, Sam officially became a firefighter with the Jersey City Fire Department.

What are your thoughts on Bruce Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, and their three children? Let us know.  

Also read: Meet Brock Bowers' Girlfriend, Cameron Rose, Knew NFL Player Since High School, Majored In Marketing

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