After a health issue forced Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to postpone their 2023 tour, Springsteen’s wife and bandmate, Patti Scialfa, revealed a blood cancer diagnosis that has prevented her from joining her husband and colleagues on the road for their rescheduled 2024 dates.
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in early September 2024. With it came the news of Scialfa’s diagnosis of multiple myeloma, which explains why Scialfa has been noticeably absent from the E Street Band’s rigorous tour schedule.
Patti Scialfa’s Blood Cancer Diagnosis Affects Her Ability To Tour
The 2024 documentary Road Diary promises what the title implies: an intimate look into what it’s like touring with The Boss, from the backstage logistics to Bruce Springsteen’s greater musical legacy. The documentary also revealed why Springsteen’s wife and E Street Band guitarist and backing vocalist hasn’t been able to join her husband on the road.
Scialfa was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018. This form of blood cancer affects plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies to help fight infection. Multiple myeloma cancer cells build up in the bone marrow. Understandably, this has affected Scialfa’s ability to join the band as they tour across the United States throughout 2024.
“This affects my immune system, so I have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” Scialfa explains in Road Diary (via 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. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m okay with that.”
This Isn’t The First Health Scare to Affect Tour
The news of Patti Scialfa’s blood cancer diagnosis comes almost exactly one year after Bruce Springsteen postponed his E Street Band tour in 2023. In a statement on the rock icon’s website, Springsteen revealed he was also dealing with health issues, in his case, undergoing treatment for peptic ulcer disease. This condition causes ulcers to form in the gastrointestinal tract and can cause stomach pain, nausea, and other symptoms that are unconducive to touring on the road.
“Over here on E Street, we’re heartbroken to have to postpone these shows,” the statement read (via AP News). “We’ll be back to pick up these shows and then some.
Springsteen has not directly referenced his wife’s illness onstage, although he has acknowledged her absence. During an interview at the Toronto Film Festival following the documentary’s premiere, Springsteen spoke of the camaraderie that comes from traveling with the same band for decades.
“I can look to my left, Stevie [Van Zandt’s] there. My right, Nils [Lofgren] is there. When Patti’s able to make it, I can see her there. I’m not alone. You’re risking everything you have, but you’re not alone,” Springsteen said (via Washington Post).
