All About Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen's Wife and Bandmate

Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa have been married since 1991

Throughout his decades-long career, Bruce Springsteen has had his wife, Patti Scialfa, by his side.

The couple met at a local bar in the early '80s and quickly developed a friendship. Scialfa, who is also a musician, then joined the music legend and the E Street Band on their 1984 Born in the U.S.A Tour as a backup vocalist.

While the two musicians had chemistry on stage, their relationship did not turn romantic until 1988 after the "Dancing in the Dark" singer split from his first wife, Julianne Phillips.

Springsteen and Scialfa quickly fell in love and got married in 1991. They've since welcomed three kids and continue to perform together.

So, who is Bruce Springsteen's wife? From her relationship with the iconic musician to her solo music career, here's everything to know about Patti Scialfa.

She was born in New Jersey, where she got into music through her grandfather

Like her husband, Scialfa was born and raised in New Jersey. Born in Deal, Monmouth County, Scialfa is of Northern Irish ancestry through her mother and Sicilian ancestry through her father, as Springsteen shared at the Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards.

In an interview with New Jersey Monthly, Scialfa credited her maternal grandfather with teaching her music. She explained that whenever her grandparents babysat, they'd play the piano together.

"He would be composing, working out the melodies, and he would say, 'Which ending do you like — this one? Or this one, when the notes go here?' " she recalled. "My opinion actually mattered to him. This was the era where children were to be seen and not heard, so that was really powerful to me."

She met Springsteen at a bar

Having grown up near each other and just four years apart in age, Scialfa and Springsteen moved in similar social circles when they were younger, as she told New Jersey Monthly. Prior to their first official meeting, Scialfa had known of Springsteen as he had the reputation of being the "fastest guitar player."

The pair first met in the early 1980s at a bar and music venue called the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Scialfa would often sing at the venue with a friend's band. Springsteen approached her and told her that he liked her voice, after which they became good friends.

"It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We had a beer together, sat at a table, and talked. After that, I would go down every Sunday and sing, and sometimes he would be there. He knew I lived in New York and that I didn't have a car, so he would offer to drop me off at my mom's," she said.

She has a degree from New York University

After graduating from Asbury Park High School, where she was considered "very quiet" and "intelligent" by teachers, she enrolled at the University of Miami's jazz conservatory at the Frost School of Music. She began studying jazz vocals, but after three years, she moved to New York City.

Scialfa transferred to New York University and graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 1975.

She married Springsteen in 1991

Springsteen's first wife, Julianne Phillips, filed for divorce in August 1988 and their divorce was finalized in 1989. After Phillips and Springsteen separated, he and Scialfa began living together in New Jersey; they later moved to N.Y.C. and Los Angeles. "Patti's been in love with Bruce for as long as I can remember," her high school art teacher, Curtis K. Smith, told PEOPLE in 1988.

In 1991, Scialfa and Springsteen got married at their home in Beverly Hills, California. Scialfa often posts on social media to mark their wedding anniversary; in June 2022, she shared a photo of the couple riding horses for their 31st wedding anniversary.

She has three children with Springsteen

Scialfa and Springsteen have three adult children together. Their first son, Evan James, was born in 1990, while their daughter, Jessica Rae, was born in 1991. They welcomed their youngest son, Samuel Ryan, in 1994.

Evan is also a musician and has joined his father on stage several times, while Jessica is an Olympic equestrian. Sam became a firefighter in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 2020. Both Scialfa and Springsteen have been hands-on parents, playing the guitar, writing music and making breakfast with their children.

Scialfa and Springsteen became grandparents for the first time in 2022, when their son Sam welcomed his first child. The proud grandmother shared a photo of Sam with his partner and their daughter, writing, "walking the baby. Lily Harper Springsteen."

She supports Springsteen's mental health

In 2016, Springsteen shared that he'd begun living with periods of depression during his 60s. "It sneaks up on you. I got to where I didn't want to get out of bed, you know?" he explained during an interview with Sunday Morning.

He credited Scialfa with being his main source of support during his bouts of depression: "You're not behaving well at home and you're tough on everybody. Hopefully not the kids. I always try to hide it from the kids. But, you know, Patti really had to work with me through it. … Her strength and the love she had was very important."

She's a member of the E Street Band

Springsteen has played with the E Street Band since 1972, and Scialfa has been a member since 1984. She was the band's only female member at the time, providing backing vocals, tambourine and guitar.

"I didn't know when we started rehearsing that he was going to give me a lot to do," she told PEOPLE in 1988. "It happened slowly over the course of rehearsing. Bruce coaxed me and urged me to reach. He was very patient, very willing to teach. He had a lot of confidence in me."

However, the couple manage to keep their personal and professional lives separate. Springsteen told Variety in 2017, "When she comes on stage with the E Street Band, she's an E Street band member, and when we walk off stage, we're husband and wife."

She's recorded solo albums

In addition to her role in the E Street Band, Scialfa has a solo music career. She released her debut solo album, Rumble Doll, in 1993 and her second album, 23rd Street Lullaby, in 2004. Her third album, Play It as It Lays, landed in 2007.

Her husband appeared as a special guest on her first solo tour, and her song "Town Called Heartbreak" was part of Springsteen's set on his "Magic Tour" in 2007, as a duet between husband and wife. Scialfa also performed at the final show on the "Vote for Change" tour in 2004, per Billboard.

She played herself in a movie alongside her husband

While Scialfa and Springsteen are best known for their music, they both made appearances in the 2020 movie Broken Poet as themselves.

According to Rolling Stone, the film is based on a short story written by singer-songwriter and author Elliott Murphy and follows a rock star who is presumed dead but reappears in Paris years later.

She was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame

In October 2023, Scialfa was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

“A street-smart, fascinating, lovely, sexy, beautiful redhead with a sound completely her own," Springsteen said to the audience while introducing his wife. "This is long-deserved, I love her. She's a Jersey girl through and through. Congratulations, baby!”

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