How did the greats become the greats? And what did it cost them to get there? Legend is the award-winning music biography series from BBC Radio 4 exploring the lives of pioneering artists who shaped modern music.In Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story, we discover how a scrawny, long-haired introvert from New Jersey became the iconic, muscular – and oft-misunderstood – rock star of the 1980s, and ultimately the eloquent elder statesmen he is now. What does his story reveal about America today?Across the series, Laura Barton takes a front-row seat at five key gigs which illuminate a different side of The Boss. She travels to Asbury Park in 1971 to hear how teenage Bruce began to learn his magic trick at The Upstage Club. She hears about his nerve-wracking London Hammersmith gig in 1975, the electrifying final night of the Born in the U.S.A tour in 1985, and his emotional homecoming show at St Rose of Lima school gym in 1996. Lastly, Laura heads to Milan to witness the final concert of his 2025 Land of Hope and Dreams tour.Featuring Bruce in his own words across the decades, alongside voices from the E Street Band, devoted fans, biographers, and critics.Listen first on BBC Sounds.A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Sound Design and Original Music: Hannis Brown
Series Developer: Mair Bosworth
Production Coordinator: Stuart Laws
Additional Research: Sarah Goodman
Series Editor: Emma Harding
Commissioning Editors: Daniel Clarke and Matthew Dodd
Assistant Commissioner Podcasts: Will Drysdale
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Anne Dudley and Joe Stilgoe round off the series
Musician and songwriter Joe Stilgoe and Oscar-winning composer and arranger Anne Dudley join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add the final five tracks of the series, taking us from calypso to K-pop via Beethoven and Brubeck.Add to Playlist returns on 14 November.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Calypso Queen by Calypso Rose
Concrete and Clay by Unit 4 + 2
Piano Concerto in G Major: III (Rondo) by Beethoven
Blue Rondo à la Turk by Dave Brubeck
Gangnam Style by PsyOther music in this episode:Disco Inferno by The Trammps
WHO AM I by Berwyn
Abatina by Calypso Rose
I Love to Love by Tina Charles
Rock the Boat by Hues Corporation
Concrete and Clay by Eddie Rambeau
Take Five by Dave Brubeck
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Catrin Finch and Rhodri Marsden on absence and resilience
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and musician and composer Rhodri Marsden join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add five more tracks, with unexpected and surprising connections. The eclectic music choices range from an Americana classic knocked off in just 30 mins to the winner of this year's Ivor Novello Award for Best Album, via a reworking of a Bach organ sonata for piano.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Louie Louie by The Kingsmen
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
Organ Sonata No.4 movt II (Andante) by Bach, played by Víkingur Ólafsson
My Dearest Dear by Ivor Novello – sung by Mary Ellis
WHO AM I by BerwynOther music in this episode:P.I.M.P. by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
El Loco Cha Cha by René Touzet
Louie Louie by Richard Berry
Fly Me To The Moon by Bart Howard, sung by Frank Sinatra
Someone Like You by Adele
Hotel California by The Eagles
It's a Sin by Pet Shop Boys
Organ Sonata No.4 movt II (Andante) by Bach, played by Robert Quinney
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Callum Au and Natalie Duncan and the beauty of brass
Trombonist, arranger and big band leader Callum Au, and composer, pianist and singer Natalie Duncan, are today's studio guests as they look for unexpected links that connect five disparate tracks. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from an early Adele classic to a reinterpretation of a Roberta Flack hit via a 15-minute reworking by Duke Ellington of one of his most celebrated works.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Chasing Pavements by Adele
Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington
Tuba mirum by Mozart
Back Together Again by Roberta Flack, ft Donny Hathaway
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
Other music in this episode:Krupastrophe by Callum Au & Louis Dowdeswell
Heaven by Emeli Sandé
Sinfonia 'Infernali' from L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack
Empty Chairs by Don McLean
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Jess Gillam and Keelan Carew with music fit for a king
Saxophonist and Radio 3 broadcaster Jess Gillam and pianist Keelan Carew are Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe's studio guests as they add the next five tracks, taking us from an east London housing estate to Heaven, via a certain celebrated Norwegian hall of a Mountain King.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Ill Manors by Plan B
The Coronation scene from Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky
King by Years & Years
In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg
Heaven by Emeli SandéOther music in this episode:Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
Hùg air a’ Bhonaid Mhòir (Celebrate the Big Bonnet) by Julie Fowlis
Alles Neu by Peter Fox
Fourth movement of the Symphony No 7 (The 'Leningrad' Symphony) by Dmitry Shostakovich
In the Hall of the Mountain King by The Who
In the Hall of the Mountain King by ELO
Sonic the Hedgehog Theme
Inspector Gadget Theme
Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe take us on a musical journey of discovery, exploring the web of connections between tracks across the breadth of all musical styles, from pop, rock, reggae and hip-hop to classical, jazz, folk and country.
New Zealand