Bruce Springsteen, like every other powerhouse rock star to etch their name in the rock music history books, has his share of inspirations. One inspiration was none other than the King of Rock himself, Elvis Presley. And that starry-eyed fanboy-ness once led a young Bruce Springsteen to attempt to meet Elvis. And he tried to do so by jumping the fence at his Graceland mansion.
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On April 29, 1976, Springsteen almost got into quite a bit of trouble in his attempt to meet one of his musical heroes.
Bruce Springsteen, Like All of Us, Was Once Young and Dumb
Back in 1976, Springsteen was on his Born To Run Tour. On April 29, he wrapped up an amazing set in Memphis. Then, he promptly (and spontaneously) decided to jump in a cab and pay a visit to Graceland. That’s something that anyone would do when in Memphis, right?
However, after approaching the gate, Springsteen noticed that there was a light on inside the mansion, yards away. With the boundless confidence of a young man in his prime (without a fully developed frontal lobe, most likely), Springsteen climbed the locked gates and ran across the lawn to the front door of the mansion.
He was moments away from knocking on the door when a security guard stopped him. Springsteen asked the guard if Elvis was home. The guard politely told him that the King was on the other side of the country near Lake Tahoe.
The ever-confident young Springsteen used his newfound fame to try and talk his way out of it. The guard wasn’t impressed. He was promptly escorted from the property.
While any other wild fan would likely be tossed from the property in a much quicker fashion (and plenty of fans have attempted to claw their way into Elvis’s mansion), Springsteen’s debacle has become a funny story in the history of Graceland. For Springsteen, though, he looks back at his behavior and cringes at it.
“When I look back on it now was kind of a stupid thing to do because I hate it when people do it at my house,” said Springsteen.
Despite the snub, Springsteen never stopped being a diehard Elvis fan. He went on to write the song “Fire” as a tribute to the King in 1977, after witnessing a particularly bad performance from the aging icon. Sadly, Elvis Presley would pass away before he could hear the demo. Robert Gordon would later record the song, as would The Pointer Sisters, who would score a no. 2 hit with the tune in the United States.
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
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