When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain: release date and everything we know

When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain sees the legendary rock star tell a number of new stories about his memories of performing in the UK over the years.

He’s also touchingly candid about the pressure of his first-ever British gig at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in 1975. Apparently, he hated his performance so much that he couldn’t watch back the footage for more than 30 years!

"After the show I went to a party that was supposed to celebrate my triumph, but I felt I’d been terrible and so I was embarrassed to even go in to the party," says Bruce, now 75, in the BBC Two film. "I went in for a few minutes, couldn’t stand myself being there, went out, ran back to the hotel, sat in my lonely room under a big black cloud, ate whatever I had and went to bed.

"I had PTSD from the first Hammersmith show. I said, I ain’t going back to Britain until I have a war chest of songs and I’m fully confident I can blow the roof off!"

So here's everything we know about When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain on BBC Two...

When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain release date

When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain is a one-hour film that airs on Saturday, May 31 at 9.30 pm on BBC Two. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer from that date. If the documentary is released internationally or in the US, we'll update here so that Springsteen the fans the world over might get to see it.

What is shown in When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain?

When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain chronicles the star's unique relationship with the UK with a look back at his British concerts over the years. It features a world exclusive new interview with Bruce himself, plus archive from the 1970s to the 2020s, including the Born in the USA tour of 1985 and his recent Wembley Stadium performance. There are also tales from Monty Python legend Sir Michael Palin, who wrote about the first Hammersmith gig in his famous diary, and Springsteen superfan Rob Brydon, who even kept a Springsteen scrapbook.

Meanwhile, we hear from ordinary fans like Juliana Heron, the wife of a striking miner, who in 1985 received a 20,000-dollar cheque from Springsteen towards their community funds. Also featured are Bruce’s legendary manager and producer Jon Landau, E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt.

Executive producer Mark Robinson says: "This documentary chronicles a truly special relationship between an iconic American artist and the UK – and one who seems to inspire an unrivalled loyalty and passion from his fans. Not only has Bruce been influenced by British songwriters and musicians, in turn he has influenced new generations of them too."

Exclusive interview with executive producer Mark Robinson

Executive producer Mark Robinson gave an exclusive interview to our sister magazine TV & Satellite Week about the big highlights to expect in When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain...

Why does Bruce Springsteen have such a connection with British music?
Mark Robinson says: "He fell in love with our music as a teenager in the 1960s. The Beatles, the Stones and the Animals were such big influences on him. He told us a story about how he felt when he first heard I Want to Hold Your Hand on the radio when his mum was driving the car. For a while in his teens, he tried to speak with an English accent and even had a Beatles haircut.

When he first played in Britain in 1975, how did he go down?
"His first concert at London’s Hammersmith Odeon was a tricky introduction. It was his first gig outside the US and he felt a lot of pressure because he was playing in the land of his musical fathers. Also, his record company was hyping him as the next Bob Dylan which added to the pressure. He was disappointed with his performance – he even says he had PTSD from Hammersmith. But we hear in the documentary from Michael Palin and Peter Gabriel, who were both in the audience that night and loved it."

What is so special about Bruce’s epic live concerts?
"His concerts bring people together. The gigs are intimate despite there being thousands of people in the audience. They are like spiritual gatherings, and he holds the crowd in the palm of his hand. I only saw him play for the first time at Wembley Stadium last year but I was blown away."

How does he have such a special bond with his fans?
"He inspires an unrivalled loyalty and passion from his fans, but it’s a two-way connection. In the documentary, we hear from Juliana Heron, the wife of a striking Northumberland miner, who talks about Bruce donating to their community support group when he played in Newcastle in the 1980s. She and her husband have followed him ever since. Having grown up in a blue-collar family, Bruce has always had that connection with working-class issues."

What was it like to meet Bruce during filming?
"He is so busy that it took us three years to arrange a meeting! We travelled to his home in New Jersey to record the interview. We’d sent him our questions beforehand and he had clearly thought about them carefully. He was so welcoming, friendly and helpful. He even played some Beatles riffs on his guitar. We were over the moon."

When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain – what else do we know?

The documentary is the centrepiece of a special night on BBC Two celebrating all things Springsteen. Also shown is Hammersmith Odeon ’75, which sees the European concert debut of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The night will also host a new episode of Bruce Springsteen at the BBC, featuring a compilation of performances from across TV shows, including Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops, and BBC Four sessions: Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band spanning the past six decades.

Rachel Davies, Commissioning Editor, BBC Music says: "Bruce Springsteen is not only a global music icon, but he’s an honorary Brit here in the UK — he’s become one of our own! We’re looking forward to celebrating Bruce all night on BBC Two with a new compilation of his most loved hits and one of his all-time classic live performances."

Is there a trailer?

Not yet but we’ll post it here as soon as it’s released by the BBC.