What a lovely gesture.
Bruce Springsteen has made Charlie Bird’s “final wish” come true by dedicating the song Land of Hope and Dreams to him at his RDS gig over the weekend.
The former RTÉ broadcaster, who has Motor Neuron Disease (MND), has been a big fan of Springsteen for decades and got to meet the Boss backstage before Friday night’s concert.
Bird tweeted yesterday: “Last evening I was blown away brought to meet Bruce Springsteen backstage before concert. We had a couple of hugs and I used my voice app to talk to him. Then he dedicated Land of Hope and Dreams to “my friend Charlie Bird” O God Bruce is a great human. My final wish has happened.”
Springsteen played the song during the encore of his first of three sold-out concerts in Dublin. Before he started to play, the New Jersey legend said: “This is for my friend Charlie Bird.”
What a magical moment for me and my beautiful wife Claire. Bruce was so kind and a fantastic human. I played my voice app and I really believe we connected. I told Bruce Land of Hope and dreams was on my bucket list, and he said he would play it for me. And God he did. I love him pic.twitter.com/kP9KInCUpX
— Charlie Bird (@charliebird49) May 6, 2023
The 73-year-old will also play on Sunday evening before closing out his three-night stint on Tuesday. The legendary singer-songwriter has been spotted in various locations around Ireland as he enjoys his stay in the country.
Over the years, Springsteen has become a regular of some particular Dublin haunts, including The Long Hall pub and Leo Burdock’s flagship location in Christchurch, both of which he visited over the weekend.
On Thursday, he made his way to Co Kildare, making some surprise visits to a number of locations, tracing his ancestral roots, including Newbridge Library and The Burrow pub in Rathangan.
He was also spotted visiting the Book of Kells in Trinity College before the second of his Dublin shows on Sunday.
Lovely visit from ‘The Boss’ Bruce Springsteen to the Book of Kells and Old Library yesterday @BookOfKellsTCD @tcdlibrary pic.twitter.com/LYUSrrKe2S
— Anne-Marie Diffley (@anne_diffley) May 7, 2023
Springsteen also took the time to meet Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan. MacGowan’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke said it was an “amazing honour and a beautiful experience to get a visit from The Boss. Such a truly wonderful man and a total genius.”
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