Bruce Springsteen Joins The Killers For Three Songs, Brandon Flowers Jokes He’s “Nervous”

No one likes when their boss shows up to watch them at work. Even professional musicians.

That was the joke when Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen and his fellow E Street Band member, saxophonist Jake Clemons, performed three songs with The Killers.

The Killers’ Imploding the Mirage Tour hit New York City at the famed Madison Square Garden venue on Friday night (September 30) and it featured a star-studded lineup, including opener Johnny Marr, who was performing Smiths songs with former bandmate Angry Rourke, and The Boss popping in from his nearby home state of New Jersey.

On the next day, prior to Saturday night’s show and encore, the Killers frontman told the crowd that “everybody gets a little nervous when their boss shows up for work, right?” Flowers was half-joking and half-serious, then bringing out Springsteen on October 1 to big cheers.

Added Flowers, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but me and my friends have been sweating bullets up here all night because The Boss is here. Ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Springsteen.”

That’s when Springsteen and Clemons appeared on stage. The two musicians joined the rock band for three songs, including two classic Springsteen numbers, “Badlands” and “Born to Run.” The third offering was the Killers’ “A Dustland Fairytale,” which came out in 2021 and featured The Boss on vocals on the recording.

Speaking of Springsteen, the legendary rocker announced s new record, Only the Strong Survive, which is slated to be a collection of soul covers. Springsteen also shared a new single from that forthcoming LP, “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do),” originally by artist Frank Wilson.

“I wanted to make an album where I just sang,” said Springsteen in a statement regarding the new LP. “And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I’ve taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others.”

Check out some of the performances from MSG below, including “Born to Run.”

(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for SUFH)