Have you ever felt like you were on the edge of a possible career-defining moment where you go, ‘Alright, this is it.’ The next step you’ll take might set off to a new path filled with unknown possibilities, and you’ll either make it or fall back down to the bottom of the ladder.
This definition might bring back a few moments in front of your eyes, and looking back on them might be easier now to assess whether you’ve made the right decisions. Even if there surely were times when you haven’t made the most fulfilling choice, life is all about making mistakes and doing your best to learn from them.
However, what do you do when that one decision has cost you millions and almost brought you to the brink of a financial apocalypse? Would it still be as fun to reflect on that decision and speak about it while confronting all the opportunities you’ve missed and all that ‘might have been’ lurking around?
Steven Van Zandt, as many of his peers do, had a moment or two when poor career decisions got the best of him. However, there was one mistake that became such a significant obstacle that it broke his bank balance. So, let’s dive into how and when Van Zandt had a financial apocalypse.
How Was Steven Van Zandt Almost Financially Ruined?
He and Bruce Springsteen’s friendship goes way back to the late 60s when they were just clueless teenagers playing together with different bands through the late sixties. Springsteen, however, decided to launch his solo career in the early 70s, and Steven stood by his pal and joined E Street Band shortly after ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ was recorded in the mid-70s.
Up until that point, Van Zandt’s career seemed picture perfect, as he was an avid member of E Street, but the early years of the band didn’t mean receiving major checks. So, after having disputes with Springsteen during the recordings of ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ Steven had to decide: He would either go along with E Street and not receive impressive bonus checks or start anew and reestablish himself as a solo act.
After some thought, the singer chose the latter and departed from E Street shortly before the act launched their major commercial success, the ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ tour, as it carried Springsteen from taking the stage at low capacity venues to filling up entire arenas, appealing millions.
Seeing the tour’s major success was surely an awkward moment for Steven, who realized the opportunities he had missed while being away from the act. He recalled missing out on touring with E Street and the financial apocalypse that followed while chatting with Rolling Stone in 2020 and discussed how he’d made a wrong career-defining choice.
Van Zandt, on departing E Street Band and realizing that was the wrong choice:
“It’s the one defining moment of my life. It was a mistake I’ve never recovered from. Financially, it was apocalyptic. We did take years off the life of the South African government [Van Zandt created Artists United Against Apartheid in 1985]. But is that worth losing all of my friends, all of my power base, all my juice, all my celebrity capital to save a few lives?
And you’ve got to say, ‘Yeah, sure. It was.’ But I look back and think, ‘Jeez, if only I could’ve done those things and stayed [in E Street].’ I would’ve had a perfect life.”
The singer didn’t shy away when accepting his poor career choice to leave E Street and establish a solo career of his own right. However, it might be fair to say that he’s currently making up for that mistake as he reunited with his old buddy, Springsteen, and hit the road for a mega tour.
Originally published at www.theshocknews.com