E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, who’s married to frontman Bruce Springsteen, said a rare form of blood cancer is to blame for her inconsistent appearances with the group in recent years.
The revelation came Sunday night at the Toronto Film Festival where “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” premiered, according to Variety.
“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,” Scialfa said in the documentary. “That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
The 71-year-old New Jersey native said she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018. Scialfa has been part of the E Street Band for 40 years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. She joined the band at the start of its storied “Born in the U.S.A.” tour. Scialfa married the band’s Grammy Award winning singer in 1991.
Multiple myeloma impacts the immune system. According to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the exact cause of the kind of cancer Scialfa contracted is not known and “each case is unique.”
She didn’t expound on her current condition.
The group suffered a major blow in 2011 when star saxophone player Clarence Clemons, 69, died from a stroke. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a huge Springsteen fan, ordered all flags flown at half-staff to mourn “The Big Man.”
Springsteen, 74, told fans at a Q&A session promoting the film in Canada that the E Street Band has no plans to stop performing, according to the New York Times.
Springsteen and the E Street Band performs Sunday in Asbury Park, New Jersey, which is where it all began for the classic rock hitmakers in 1972.
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