+
upworthy
Pop Culture

Bruce Springsteen randomly met a fan at a movie, then stopped by his house to surprise his mom

Literally every fan's dream come true.

bruce springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is known for connecting with fans, but this story goes above and beyond.

Anyone who has admired a famous person has probably imagined what it would be like to meet them in person. Some people might even fantasize about randomly striking up a conversation with said celebrity and exchanging more than just fleeting autograph-signing pleasantries.

Like, what if you were out for the evening and just happened to bump into a rock star? What if you invited them to your house … and they said yes? What if you kind of got to know each other and they remembered you and told stories about you for decades?

That would never happen, right? Except it did, for a young Bruce Springsteen fan, back in the heyday of his meteoric fame in the 1980s.


Springsteen shared the surprising story on "The Graham Norton Show" when the Irish show host asked him about it.

"You do seem to go above and beyond," Norton began before asking "The Boss" to tell a story of how he had met a fan at a cinema. Springsteen shared that he had gone by himself to a showing of a Woody Allen film in St. Louis, Missouri, on an off night between shows, when a young fan recognized him in the lobby and asked the singer if he'd like to sit with him and his girlfriend.

"So I said, 'OK,'" said Springsteen, to which Norton responded, "See already I just think, 'That's a hard no.'"

After the movie, the fan asked Springsteen if he'd come home with him and meet his parents. Again, Springsteen said, "OK," much to the surprise and delight of his fellow guests on Norton's show.

So at 11 o' clock at night, this kid brought Bruce Springsteen home to meet his mom, and her reaction to the stop-by was the best. Watch:

"Oh my god, let me make him some eggs," has to be the most peak Midwest mom reaction to Bruce Springsteen showing up unannounced ever.

The story may seem unbelievable, but it's true … for the most part.

The main difference between The Boss' retelling and the news story about it from 1988 is that the kid wasn't with his girlfriend, but his sister. And the mom made him more than just eggs.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the random meeting happened on Oct. 16, 1980. The mom, Sophie Satanovsky, reportedly said, "Right — and I'm Raquel Welch," when her kids first introduced Springsteen to her. And once she believed who he was, she scolded the kids and Springsteen for riding with strangers. (The son, Steve Satanovsky, passed away years ago, according to the Post-Dispatch, but he always cherished the encounter.)

Springsteen has a reputation for being the real deal. Bob Costas, who has interviewed the singer multiple times, told the Post-Dispatch, "He is always the coolest guy in the room, and there isn't one thimble's worth of, 'You know I'm the coolest guy in the room.' That authenticity is irresistible in an extremely acclaimed and accomplished person who could easily get away with another kind of behavior."

It's always lovely to see people who could be arrogant, aloof jerks turn out to be the genuine article. And nice to know that our dreams of randomly meeting our celebrity faves actually do have the tiniest chance of coming true.

The funny thing about love is that the person we fall in love with, more often than not, we run into by accident. Another strange twist is that the love of our life is likely to show up when we least expect it.

The following story, which feels like the promise of a hit rom-com, comes courtesy of a twist of fate created by the World Cup and an Airbnb.

In 2013, after six years of battling an illness, Ana was living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Having been financially drained by years of being sick, she invested the last of her money to buy two bunk beds and convert one of her bedrooms into an Airbnb for small groups of friends.

The Airbnb was a last-ditch effort to pay her rent and medical bills. A year later, the modest investment grew into a success, Ana’s health began to return, and the World Cup, one of the largest sporting events in the world, was coming to Rio.

To take advantage of the soccer fanatics flocking to the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City), Ana and her roommate, Fabio, turned a half room in their apartment into an Airbnb rental to give tired soccer fans a place to sleep.

“Though it was a small (pantry!) room, we added a bunk bed and listed two beds on Airbnb. One day after the listing went live, we had tons of requests for ‘Fabio’s Pantry,’” she shared. “It was fully booked for the entire World Cup period except for one week in July.”

Around this time, Ana was feeling well enough to go on her first vacation in years and took a quick trip to Uruguay. Just before she left, Ana received a reservation from a man named "Darko B." for the only unbooked days in July.

“I have always been a big fan of the movie ‘Donnie Darko’ and thought it was a strange coincidence, but didn't think anything of it,” Ana wrote. “I accepted the request, let him know I would not be there for check-in and Fabio would care for him until I was back the following week.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Tolstoy's sign that someone is highly intelligent.

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist known for epic works such as"War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina.” His life experiences—from witnessing war to spiritual quests—profoundly influenced his writings and gave him profound insights into the human soul.

His understanding of emotions, motivations and moral dilemmas has made his work stand the test of time, and it still resonates with people today.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Artist beautifully illustrates the transformative power of turning toward fear

In just six images, Cécile Carre captures what therapy for fear and anxiety can do.

Fear is a finicky beast.

When my oldest daughter was in the deepest throes of a clinical phobia, her fear overtook everything. She practically became a hermit at 16, afraid to go anywhere. Thankfully, we found an excellent therapist who taught her how to tame her fear, to gently manage it, to approach it in such a way that allowed it to dissipate instead of continuing to dominate her every thought.

Keep ReadingShow less

How often should you wash your jeans?

Social media has become a fertile breeding ground for conversations about hygiene. Whether it’s celebrities bragging about how little their family bathes or battles over how often people should wash their sheets or bras.

One of the debates that gets the most diverse responses is how often people wash their denim jeans.

Denim atelier Benjamin Talley Smith tells Today that jeans should be washed "as little as possible, if at all.” Laundry expert Patric Richardson adds they should be cleaned “after nine or 10 wearings, like to me, that is the ideal." At that point, they probably have stains and are "a little sweaty by that point, so you need to wash 'em," Richardson says.

Still, some people wash and dry them after every wear while others will hand wash and never hang dry. With all these significant differences of opinion, there must be a correct answer somewhere, right?

Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Someone questioned the Costco cake ordering system. You do not question the Costco cake system.

Lucy Huber was confronted by the Costco cake brigade when she posted about the antiquated way you have to order.

Photo by Annie Reneau

Costco cakes are huge, cheap and delicious. Every time.

Costco is known for many things—their employee satisfaction and retention, their amazing Kirkland Signature generic brand, their massive (and addictive) $4.99 rotisserie chickens, their never-going-to-raise-the-price $1.50 hot dog and soda meal and more.

But one favorite Costco feature that might just top them all? The Costco cake.

Costco cakes are legendary. If you've never had a Costco cake, I'm so sorry. If you have, then you know. They are the trifecta of awesome—huge, cheap and utterly delicious. I don't even like cake that much and I can't stop eating a Costco cake. Like, if you ordered a fancy cake from a fancy patisserie and it tasted like a Costco cake, you'd say, "Oh yeah, that was worth the $ I just paid." Only at Costco, you'd get that delicious of a cake that would feed a thousand people for just $25. (Okay, 50 people, but still—cake for days.)

This is why people have a serious loyalty to Costco cakes, which writer Lucy Huber discovered when she dared to question the Costco cake ordering process on Twitter.

Keep ReadingShow less

This isn’t comfortable to talk about.


Trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault and violence.


A recent video by Just Not Sports took two prominent female sportswriters and had regular guys* read the awful abuse they receive online aloud.

Sportswriters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro sat by as men read some of the most vile tweets they receive on a daily basis. See how long you can last watching it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

Photo by Yuyang Liu on Unsplash

Share a little joy.

It's been a heavy week for our world, friends. I always feel torn putting together posts like this in times like these, but in some ways it might be the best time for sharing small joys. While we can't pretend terror and war aren't happening, taking a moment to smile or laugh is life-affirming and a reminder that joy can coexist with tragedy. Indeed, it always does.

May this week's list of 10 things that made us smile this week provide a respite, however brief, for whoever needs one.

Keep ReadingShow less