Bruce Springsteen to Bring Soul Covers and Comedy Chops to ‘Tonight Show’ Takeover

Bruce Springsteen, fresh off his annual chance to tell a few dirty jokes, will head to The Tonight Show next week for a special run of shows in support of his new covers album, Only the Strong Survive (out this Friday, Nov. 11).

The “takeover” will kick off Monday, Nov. 14, and wrap on Nov. 16, though Springsteen will pop up on The Tonight Show again on Nov. 24 for its Thanksgiving episode. Springsteen’s duties will primarily consist of performing, and he plans to share four songs from Only the Strong Survive. But he’ll also be the show’s lead guest, and surely host Jimmy Fallon will rope him into a few goofy bits. 

Springsteen has appeared on Fallon’s Tonight Show three times before, though only as an interview guest. Back when Fallon was hosting Late Night, Springsteen did take the stage as a performer and showed he was game for some late-night shenanigans. In 2014, he and Fallon did a parody of “Born to Run” about the-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s infamous bridge-gate scandal; a year later, Springsteen and Fallon (who was impersonating Neil Young) did a cover of Willow’s “Whip My Hair.”

Only the Strong Survive marks Springsteen’s 21st studio album and the second collection of covers, following his 2006 Pete Seeger tribute, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The new record finds Springsteen tackling an array of classic soul and R&B songs, including the Commodores’ “Nightshift” and Aretha Franklin’s “Don’t Play That Song.” 

Springsteen is also gearing up for a massive 2023 world tour, which will find him on the road with the E Street Band for the first time in six years. The North American leg will kick off on Feb. 1, 2023, in Tampa, Florida, and wrap on April 14 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.