Bruce Springsteen is not concerned about losing any fans of his who are MAGA as he continues to attack Donald Trump while out on his new tour.
While talking to the Minnesota Star Tribune in an interview published Wednesday, Springsteen previewed his upcoming tour that is set to kick off March 31 at Minneapolis’ Target Center. The singer wanted to start his tour in the city after debuting his song “Streets of Minneapolis” there following the ICE-related deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti. Springsteen has become more vocal with his anti-Trump thoughts since the president’s second term and is not concerned about alienating Trump supporters.
“I don’t worry about it,” Springsteen said. “My job is very simple: I do what I want to do, I say what I want to say and then people get to say what they want to say about it. Those are the rules of my game. That’s fine with me. I don’t worry about if you’re going to lose this part of your audience. I’ve always had a feeling about the position we play culturally, and I’m still deeply committed to that idea of the band. The blowback is just part of it. I’m ready for all that.”
The “Born in the USA” songwriter penned the song in January to tribute Renée Good and Alex Pretti, two Minneapolis residents killed by ICE agents while protesting the immigration enforcement agency’s occupation of the city. The rock legend performed his new protest song in Minneapolis in a surprise appearance during a benefit concert put on by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello at the end of January that earned a number of “ICE out” chants.
“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” Springsteen wrote in a statement released in conjunction with the song. “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”
Springsteen assured the Star Tribune that the new tour – which he wanted to start in Minneapolis and end in Washington D.C. – would be “political and very topical about what’s going on in the country.”
“The E Street Band is built for hard times. It always was,” Springsteen said. “These are the moments when I think we can be of real value and real worth to the community. These are moments that fill the band with purpose, so I try to fill the set list around those ideas.”
