Bruce Springsteen celebrated his wife, Patti Scialfa, being cancer-free more than eight years after she was diagnosed with blood cancer.
On Saturday, the “Dancing in the Dark” crooner shared the news during a virtual appearance at Boston’s Pan-Mass Challenge fundraiser, which raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to support cancer research and treatment.
“As you know, Patti’s been living with her multiple myeloma for over eight years, but now, thankfully, she is in remission,” he told the audience.
“However, like millions of families facing cancer, we’ve learned what every patient learns: Hope has a face. It’s our physician, who refuses to stop searching and caring. It’s our nurse, who sits beside us when we are scared,” Springsteen, 76, added.
The Grammy winner explained that he was able to see the work happening at Dana-Farber “every single day” Scialfa, 73, underwent treatment, applauding their care and research.
“Patti’s journey has taught us something,” he continued. “I hope every one of us and every American can understand. Medical research isn’t an idea. It isn’t politics. It isn’t a line in a budget.”
“It’s the reason families find hope when hope seems hardest to find,” Springsteen continued. “When we lose sight of that, we lose sight of one another, and that’s too high a price for anyone to pay.”
The hitmaker thanked fundraiser attendees, concluding, “Patti and I are grateful for everything you continue to do. Thank you.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, “myeloma is a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell.”
Scialfa was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 but kept her journey a secret until 2024, when she appeared in the documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.”
The guitarist, who has been a member of the rock band since 1984, explained that she stepped back from performing because touring had become a challenge.
“This affects my immune system, so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” she explained.
“Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs on stage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that,” Scialfa added.
When previously asked about her hiatus from the group in 2023, the musician told Asbury Park Press that she was working on a solo album and taking care of her son Sam’s daughter, Lily, who was born in July 2022.
Springfield and Scialfa, who wed in 1991, share Sam, 32, along with their eldest son, Evan, 36, and daughter, Jessica, 34.
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