How did Bruce Springsteen describe his friendship with Clarence Clemons after Clemons died?

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Bruce Springsteen plays an acoustic guitar and sings into a microphone on stage at the New York Film Festival Spotlight Gala. — Bruce Springsteen American rock musician Bruce Springsteen performs at the New York Film Festival Spotlight Gala at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, 2025. The gala featured a screening of *Deliver Me from Nowhere* (2025), a biopic centering on the making of Springsteen's 1982 album *Nebraska*.

Following the death of his longtime collaborator Clarence Clemons in 2011, Bruce Springsteen honored his friend by describing him as his "sax man, my inspiration, my partner, my lifelong friend."1

In his eulogy, Springsteen reflected on the profound nature of their bond, noting that they acted as each other's protectors against a world that often made it difficult for them to be themselves. He described their partnership as a "badass" union that was "righteous," "unmovable," and "as serious as death itself." Ultimately, Springsteen characterized their relationship as a story about the possibilities of friendship that transcended the narratives he had written in his music, representing a connection that challenged societal norms and reshaped the world around them.1