Bruce Springsteen Awarded With Woody Guthrie Prize

Woody Guthrie Is One Of Bruce Springsteen’s Influences

Bruce Springsteen is the recipient of the 2021 Woody Guthrie prize. He will accept the award on May 13 at a virtual event. The Woody Guthrie Center gives the honor to “an artist who best exemplifies Woody Guthrie’s spirit and work by speaking for the less fortunate through music, film, literature, dance, or other art forms and serving as a positive force for social change in America.” The first one to receive it was Pete Seeger in 2014. Other recipients include Mavis Staples, Kris Kristofferson, Norman Lear, John Mellencamp, Chuck D, and Joan Baez.

“I’m honored to receive the 2021 Woody Guthrie Prize,” The Boss said in a statement. “Woody wrote some of the greatest songs about America’s struggle to live up its ideals in convincing fashion. He is one of my most important influences and inspirations.”

Springsteen has always been a huge fan of Woody Guthrie and has covered his songs in concert such as “Blowin’ Down the Road”, “This Land Is Your Land”, “I Ain’t Got No Home”, “Vigilante Man”, and many others.

In a press release, Woody Guthrie Center Director Deana McCloud said: “As an observer of the human condition and a reporter about the plight of common people, Bruce Springsteen is a true child of Woody Guthrie.”

“He continues Woody’s work by writing about our struggles in this land of hope and dreams, and provided one of our favorite performances of ‘This Land is Your Land’ with Pete Seeger at the first Obama inauguration,” she continued. “The Woody Guthrie Center is proud to present Bruce with this well-deserved recognition for his lifetime of speaking for the disenfranchised and inspiring generations to find the power of their own voices.”