Springsteen's Lawsuit With His Manager Forced Him Back on the Road

But a bitter lawsuit with his former manager, Mike Appel, barred him from entering a recording studio with his producer of choice, Jon Landau, until the matter was resolved by the courts. With legal bills mounting and very little money coming in, booking shows was his only way to support himself and the rest of the E Street Band. "I took comfort knowing I could lose all but one thing: myself, Springsteen wrote in his 2016 memoir, Born to Run.

"No lawsuit, no court decision, no judge, no legal outcome could take away what I treasured most. That was the craft and inner life I'd built since I was a teenager, founded on the music I could make with my heart, head, and hands. That was mine forever and could not be won from me.