Steven On the Late Clarence Clemons

Steve said he’d learned a lot from his work outside the E Street Band both as a laborer (“I worked construction–road construction–for two years.”) and solo artist: “After five albums, I learned what I wanted to learn. I learned who’s running the world.” Even when the band wasn’t together, he and Bruce were pals: “We kept being friends. We would talk all those years…we been best friends for 40 [years].” Asked how the band planned to fill the void left by the late Clarence Clemons, Steve shook his head: “I don’t know. We just started rehearsals [for their upcoming tour] this weekend…obviously you can’t replace him. You know. You know that.” Howard wished he could be a fly on the wall as the band planned their upcoming tour: “I would love to be at a meeting. I love meetings.” Steve admitted that the hardest work was diplomacy: “Don’t break up the band to go do solo things. I think that’s good advice for kids.”