Bruce Springsteen Orders This Cozy Soup Before Hitting The Stage

Tour riders can tell you a lot about your favorite performers. Some are over the top, while others are seemingly modest in comparison. For example, Aretha Franklin's backstage rider required a simple assortment of canapés, hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, and some fresh fruit. Easy and sophisticated. But some musicians' food demands can be a little more eccentric. Britney Spears' rider asked for 100 prunes and figs, fish and chips, McDonald's cheeseburgers sans the buns, toothpaste, and a framed picture of Princess Diana. Bruce Springsteen falls somewhere in between. The "Secret Garden" music artist needs chicken soup with lots of broth before performing.

Chicken soup seems like a fairly practical request. Singing for long hours can do a number on a throat. A piping hot bowl of this Jewish penicillin likely soothes the Boss's throat before he takes the stage. The broth is especially important. With all that sodium, potassium, and magnesium, it keeps his electrolytes balanced, while that steam expands his nasal passage to help him breathe easier when he is belting out "Born in the USA." Chicken soup is also comforting and satisfying. 

While some demands may leave you scratching your head, performers are like athletes. These types of pre-game meals, like Bruce Springsteen's brothy chicken soup to soothe the soul, are an important part of any singer's ritual. They can boost confidence and help an artist focus. The soup is also easy to digest, which is an important factor because no one wants to feel tired and sluggish and go from a sugar high to a crash before the lights go up and the fans start screaming.

Bruce Springsteen isn't the only performer who has soup as part of a backstage rider, so there must be something to it. Frank Sinatra's demands included three cans of Campbell's chicken and rice soup. And while that dish isn't on Mariah Carey's rider, she does like to have hot tea and Evian water to keep her throat feeling warm. In addition to soup, Springsteen needs 16 cold, fresh shrimp and two bags of Rold Gold pretzels for after the show, along with some apples and watermelon cubes. He also requires a massage therapist and manicurist, but who wouldn't?