E Street Band member Patti Scialfa said she has the rare blood cancer multiple myeloma in the upcoming documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,” which debuts Friday, Oct. 25, on Hulu and Disney+.
“This affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” says Scialfa, wife of Springsteen, in “Road Diary,” which was screened Sept. 8 at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs onstage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
Springsteen and the E Street Band have been on tour since February of 2023. Scialfa performed with the band in a handful of shows at the onset of the tour, but has only appeared with E Street sporadically since then.
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“I’ve been performing with this band for 40 years. With those first performances, it felt so good to be back onstage. Touring has become a challenge for me,” Scialfa says in the documentary. “In 2018, well, Bruce and I were doing a play on Broadway. I was diagnosed with early stage multiple myeloma.”
Scialfa, 71, performed in the entire two runs of "Springsteen on Broadway" from 2017 to 2021.
“She's an inspiration during this really difficult time,” said “Road Diary” director Thom Zimny to the Asbury Park Press.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells, which are found in bone marrow and are a vital part of the immune system, according to the American Cancer Society.
Scialfa, a native of Deal, is a singer-songwriter who has worked with artists like Don Cherry, Narda Michael Walden, David Johansen, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Scialfa also has produced movies and documentaries, picking up an Emmy along the way.
She joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in 1984 and married the frontman in 1991. They have three children, Evan, Jessica and Sam, and a granddaughter, Lily Harper, the first for Sam and his wife, Alex Reph.
Scialfa, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame last October in a ceremony at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
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“Music is powerful,” said Scialfa in her induction speech. “It can inform you. It can resonate back to you — to your heart — who you are, who you'd like to become. I was fortunate to work and meet with so many brilliant musicians and artists and find a piece of that world, a little piece of that world, for myself. I'm so deeply grateful to the many people I have worked with who have reflected back to me the beauty and transformative power of music.”
Springsteen and the E Street Band play the Sea Hear Now festival on the beach in Asbury Park on Sunday, Sept. 15. Scialfa is scheduled to perform at the annual Stand Up for Heroes veterans benefit on Monday, Nov. 11, at David Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Springsteen, Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Norah Jones and Questlove will also participate.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Patti Scialfa, wife of Bruce Springsteen, reveals blood cancer: 'She's an inspiration'
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