Bruce Springsteen has described Stevie Van Zandt, his longtime E Street Band colleague, as his “blood brother”, highlighting the close personal and professional bond they have maintained since meeting in New Jersey. Their relationship reflects the band’s wider sense of loyalty and family, in which former members may leave but often return or remain connected.

Van Zandt has been a key collaborator since the band’s early days, serving as guitarist, arranger, producer and trusted adviser. Although he took a five-year break in the 1980s to pursue other musical work, he continued occasional appearances and later returned; Springsteen praised him during the E Street Band’s 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.