Bruce Springsteen's Health Returns to Normal, Says Stevie Van Zandt

Bruce Springsteen's Health and Upcoming Film

Having its world premiere Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival is Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, an up-close look at the preparations for the ongoing 2023-2024 world tour that reunited the star with his band after an extended hiatus along with rollicking concert footage once the tour is underway.

Following its premiere at TIFF, the new film will begin streaming on Hulu and Disney+ on Oct 25. Directed by Thom Zimny, who has worked with Springsteen for more than 20 years and won an Emmy for Springsteen on Broadway, the film is a portrait of the band as an active unit, bringing in new members, working up new material and setting out to prove they are still a force to be reckoned with. Springsteen himself wrote and delivers narration throughout with a startling emotional candor.

Stevie Van Zandt on Bruce Springsteen's Recovery

Top of mind for many fans will be Springsteen's health after issues around a peptic ulcer caused dates on the tour to be postponed. According to Van Zandt, Springsteen is doing remarkably well, he is really completely back to normal. I think we did the right thing, playing it safe, taking extra time off and letting him heal. And he's been terrific, really good shape.

Behind the Scenes with Thom Zimny

Thom, were you surprised when you were filming those early rehearsals and the band was kind of struggling? Had you ever seen the band like that before? Thom Zimny: In some ways it was a new story, but there were threads of this that I recognized in making these other films. So this was a fly-on-the-wall moment to watch Stevie stop everything and go,