Bruce Springsteen has opened up about experiencing ‘half a nervous breakdown’ during his infamous 1985 gig at Slane Castle.
In a recent interview, recorded for The Late Late Show, ‘The Boss’ discussed his newly released auto-biography Born to Run, in which he wrote about the mental health struggles he faced during the Irish concert.
The I’m on Fire singer, who’s always been vocal about his battle with depression, admitted he was overwhelmed by the crowd of 90,000 fans and his concern for their safety caused him a lot of stress.
“It was the first show of it’s kind we’d ever done,” he said. “I hadn’t played for 90,000 people before, it was the first time. The audience was rowdy and swaying this way and that way, and people were dropping into little holes and all I was thinking was ‘someone is going to get hurt and it’s going to be my responsibility’.
“It concerned me very deeply. I had half of a nervous breakdown at the intermission.”
However, the music legend went on to say that, he’s been coping a lot better with his mental health problems over the past number of years, and is very grateful to have such incredible support from his Irish fans.
“I’ve learned to cope with it pretty well since,” he said. “l’ve got no complaints, life has been good and last year’s tour couldn’t have been more satisfying, coming to Dublin and playing those shows was very lovely. I’m blessed at this point in my life to still have an audience like that.”
