Patti Scialfa

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Scialfa's musical journey began on the Jersey Shore, where she started writing songs at an early age. After high school, she worked as a backup singer for local bar bands before attending college to further her performance ambitions while satisfying parental expectations. Post-graduation, she busked and waited tables in Greenwich Village, forming the street group Trickster with Soozie Tyrell and Lisa Lowell. She struggled for years in New York City and New Jersey's music scene, playing venues like Folk City, Kenny's Castaways, and The Stone Pony, where she briefly played in the house band Cats on a Smooth Surface. These gigs led to recording work with Southside Johnny and David Johansen. Her deep connections with Tyrell and Lowell predated their shared work as background vocalists on the 1987 Buster Poindexter album, which featured the Soca hit "Hot Hot Hot." In 1986, she appeared on the Rolling Stones' Dirty Work album, leaving her vocal mark on "One Hit (To the Body)," and later worked with Keith Richards on his solo album Talk Is Cheap.

In Their Own Story

In August 1988, after Julianne Phillips filed for divorce from Springsteen, Scialfa and Bruce began living together in New Jersey before moving to New York City and eventually Los Angeles. The couple married on June 8, 1991, at their Los Angeles home in a ceremony attended by family and close friends. Their first child, Evan James Springsteen, was born on July 25, 1990, followed by Jessica Rae on December 30, 1991, and Samuel Ryan on January 5, 1994. The family returned to New Jersey in the early 1990s, settling in Colts Neck, while also owning homes in Wellington, Florida, and Los Angeles. Scialfa released three solo albums: Rumble Doll (1993), 23rd Street Lullaby (2004), and Play It As It Lays (2007). The first two received four-star reviews from Rolling Stone, while the third earned three-and-a-half stars. Her records blend confessional songwriting with traditional country, folk, and rock music, featuring contributions from Springsteen and bandmates like Nils Lofgren and Roy Bittan. In 2014, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an E Street Band member.

Reader's Guide

Scialfa's discography includes Rumble Doll (1993), 23rd Street Lullaby (2004), which reached #152 on the US Billboard 200, and Play It As It Lays (2007), which peaked at #90. She contributed "Children's Song," a duet with Springsteen, to the charity album Every Mother Counts in 2011, and performed "Linda Paloma" as a duet on the 2014 tribute album Looking into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne. In September 2024, Scialfa revealed she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018; by July 31, 2026, Springsteen announced she was in remission. On July 17, 2022, the couple became first-time grandparents with the birth of their granddaughter Lily Harper Springsteen, daughter of Samuel. In 2009 and again in 2011, Scialfa confirmed she had written most songs for a fourth album but was struggling to find time to record it.

Did You Know?

• Scialfa joined the E Street Band three or four days before the opening show of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in 1984.
• She appeared on the Rolling Stones' Dirty Work album in 1986, singing on "One Hit (To the Body)" and other tracks.
• Scialfa's first two solo albums received four-star reviews from Rolling Stone, while her third received three-and-a-half stars.
• In 2024, Scialfa revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018, and by July 31, 2026, she was in remission.
• She became a first-time grandparent on July 17, 2022, when her son Sam's daughter Lily Harper Springsteen was born.