In 1993, Bruce Springsteen created a song “by accident”. It won four Grammys, an Oscar, and sold more than a million copies
Bruce Springsteen wrote “Streets of Philadelphia” in 1993 after director Jonathan Demme asked him to contribute a song to the film *Philadelphia*. Springsteen said the song came about “by accident”: he had not read the script, but knew the film addressed the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a subject he felt deserved attention.
Written in a few days, the track became a major success alongside the film, which earned about $200 million at the box office and won Tom Hanks an Academy Award for Best Actor. The song won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and four Grammy Awards, reached number one in several European countries, and sold more than a million copies, according to the headline.
In short
- Springsteen wrote “Streets of Philadelphia” in a few days.
- The song supported a film addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
- It won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and four Grammys.
Explained simply
Bruce Springsteen is an American singer-songwriter known for writing about people and social issues. In 1993, film director Jonathan Demme asked him to write a song for Philadelphia, a drama about a lawyer who loses his job after his employer learns he has HIV.
The film came out during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, when people with the illness faced widespread fear and discrimination. Its story brought those experiences to a broad audience, while Springsteen’s song became closely associated with the film and its subject.