Bruce Springsteen Tribute Band Drops Out of Trump Inauguration Gig

Group bails on event out of respect for “Bruce and his music and his band”

Bruce Springsteen at the Los Angeles Sports Arena
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The B-Street Band was apparently born to run… away from the upcoming inauguration festivities for president-elect Donald Trump.

The Bruce Springsteen tribute act has decided to drop out of an inaugural event ushering Trump into office, out of respect for musician and Trump critic Springsteen.

B-Street Band keyboardist/publicist Will Forte told Rolling Stone, “We felt that we had to make it known that we didn’t want to seem disrespectful, in any way, shape or form, to Bruce and his music and his band.”

The musician continued, “I don’t want to upset them. We owe everything to him and our gratitude and respect to the band is imperative above all else. It became clear to us that this wasn’t working and we just had to do what we thought was the right thing to do and that was to pull out.”

The group had played at the Garden State Presidential Inaugural Gala — scheduled for Jan. 19 — twice before, and signed on for this year’s festivities in 2013, long before Trump’s election was anything close to a reality.

Forte added that stories about the group signing on for the gig were “so distorted … There were misleading headlines like, ‘Trump Hires B-Street Band.’”

Among those to express surprise over the gig: E Street Band founding bass player Garry Tallent, who tweeted, “Please tell me this is more fake news. Or at least a joke.”

E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt likewise weighed in, tweeting, “Nice guys. Met them. I wouldn’t say right or wrong. Up to them. But it’s naive to think one can separate Art and Politics. Art IS Politics.”

The B-Street Band’s decision to bow out is the latest chapter in the inauguration’s difficulty in lining up talent. Over the weekend, “Dreamgirls” star Jennifer Holliday dropped out of Trump’s inauguration event, calling her decision to perform in the first place a “lapse of judgment,” in an open letter first provided to TheWrap.

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