The hottest ticket in town on Saturday night? The campus of Monmouth University.

Packed into the 700-seat Pollak Theater in West Long Branch for the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music’s fourth annual sold-out American Music Honors, guests were treated to an intimate, often impromptu evening that saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band celebrating and jamming with Public Enemy, Patti Smith, Dr. Dre, the Doors, Darlene Love, Steve Earle and others. A few highlights: Dionne Warwick made a pass at Springsteen, who later fist-pumped with Flavor Flav and played a song from his teenage years with the Doors.

The Springsteen Center, which began on Monmouth’s campus via a fan-based collection more than a decade ago and evolved in 2017 to include the Boss’s official personal archive, is expanding into a $50 million museum-like institution, slated to open June 7.

After opening remarks by host Brian Williams and the Springsteen Center’s founding executive director Bob Santelli, Springsteen—who recently spoke exclusively with New Jersey Monthly about the new center for our May cover story—took the podium.

Bruce Springsteen on the cover of New Jersey Monthly magazine's May 2026 issue

Buy our May 2026 issue here. Cover photo: Danny Clinch

“The whole thing really got much more out of hand than I ever imagined,” Springsteen said to audience laughter. “It started with my stuff in a little shack over in the corner of the university. Now it’s in this [nearby] building, and the building is nicer than my house. And I have a really nice house!”

Springsteen then presented the first award of the evening to East Orange native Dionne Warwick—“one of my all-time favorite vocalists,” he declared. “I’ve listened to her music consistently my entire life…She simply has the most elegant voice in the history of popular music. It is so sophisticatedly sexy…deeply emotional while remaining deceptively casual…Never a wasted note.”

Bruce Springsteen speaking at the 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

Springsteen spoke about his new Center for American Music at Monmouth University and inducted Dionne Warwick into the American Music Honors. Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

He went on to praise Warwick’s precise phrasing, warm tone, and intelligent delivery and interpretation. “She just seems to inhabit the lyrics,” he said, describing her performances as “so pure” and “filled with a very natural and special type of spiritual grace.” He ticked off a laundry list of Warwick’s hits and shouted out “my personal favorite, ‘Are You There (With Another Girl).’”

Dionne Warwick performing at the 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

Dionne Warwick performed “Walk on By” solo before her “That’s What Friends Are For” duet with Darlene Love. Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Warwick, 85, sparkling in head-to-toe sequins, walked onstage beaming. “You really know my stuff, huh?” she mused incredulously to Springsteen. “It is an absolute privilege, I feel, to have been thought of in this manner,” she added. “It’s my pleasure to have taken the 45-minute ride—yeah, I live in South Orange,” she quipped, pumping both fists and flailing her drapey sleeves. Springsteen feigned dismay from the wings. “If he wasn’t married,” Warwick flirted, “he’d be married.” Springsteen and the audience erupted into laughter. (“To recap: Dionne Warwick just fully hit on Bruce,” Williams said when he returned to the podium.)

Warwick performed her 1964 hit “Walk on By” with the evening’s house band, Steve Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul, followed by a duet of “That’s What Friends Are For” with surprise guest and 2023 inductee Darlene Love, the pair harmonizing and, for the final few seconds, joining hands. In the audience, Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav was audibly enthused.

Next, Williams introduced E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt, first acknowledging their shared Middletown roots. “We try to be modest about it,” he said. “You’ll never hear us overtly brag that we have both [exits] 114 and 117 on the Parkway. That’s not our style; we know it to be true.” Of Van Zandt, he continued, “No one from Middletown has ever been all of these things: musician, arranger, music director, producer, activist, actor and author.”

Van Zandt took the stage to induct the next nominee, the Doors. “I didn’t get the Doors at first,” he recalled. “Growing up, we had a pretty serious prejudice against everything from the West Coast….But the real truth was that their music was just too sophisticated for me to understand.” At the end of his speech, he deemed them “one of the most amazing bands in history.”

Drummer John Densmore, 81, accepted the award, noting that the Doors played Asbury Park (Convention Hall in 1968), and recalling that both Springsteen and his future wife Patti Scialfa had both been in attendance and would later reminisce about the show. “If our music helped Bruce chat up his bride…and it apparently worked! They’ve been together quite a while,” he said. Bruce clapped and waved from the front row.

“This is a really healing night,” Densmore continued. “This is a love fest in a time of hate and division.” Soon Springsteen and Van Zandt rose from the audience to join Densmore, along with the Disciples of Soul, for a performance of the Doors’ “Light My Fire”—though not before Springsteen warned the audience. “I would hold your applause,” he joked. “I haven’t sung this since the CYO dance in 1967…There is no one in the room in danger of filling Jim Morrison’s leather pants…We’ll do what we can.”

Springsteen performing “Light My Fire” with Doors drummer John Densmore. Photos: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Afterward, Springsteen returned to the mic. “I’m lucky enough of a guy that has two of the most fabulous Pattis in my life,” he said, referring to his wife, Patti Scialfa, and Patti Smith, both inductees of the night (though Scialfa was not present). Smith, a South Jersey native, then sang a sultry cover of the Doors’ “The Crystal Ship.”

Next, E Street drummer Max Weinberg presented the event’s first posthumous honor to the Canadian-American rock band the Band. Weinberg, who possesses an encyclopedic memory and deep knowledge of music history, gave a lengthy speech that ended with fond remembrances of the Band drummer and vocalist Levon Helm. Helm’s daughter, singer-songwriter Amy Helm, accepted the award, then joined Springsteen, Love, Earle and the Disciples of Soul for a chills-inducing cover of “The Weight.” Helm rounded out the set with “Up On Cripple Creek.”

Music mogul Jimmy Iovine introduced the next inductee, Dr. Dre, who was chosen by Springsteen to be the award’s first hip-hop recipient, he said. “When I first heard [Dr. Dre’s The Chronic], I didn’t know a lot about hip-hop,” Iovine recalled. “But what struck me was the sound…And when I listened closer to the album,…I felt comfortable. It reminded me of the power of an album I worked on as a kid with Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run. They were both street operas. And like Born to Run, it froze time.”

Dr. Dre speaking at the 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

Dr. Dre accepting the ceremony’s first-ever hip-hop award. Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Dr. Dre expressed his gratitude for being the first award recipient in this genre. “So many of us early pioneers grew up on hip-hop and watched an impact of drugs, violence, police brutality and an unfair justice system wreak havoc on our communities—and opportunities were scarce for creative young men like myself that didn’t excel in school, athletics or sports…but had gifts just the same,” he said in his speech. “Hip-hop allowed us to be seen and heard beyond the concrete walls of our neighborhoods. And for the first time, we were able to use our creativity to express our collective pain, raise social consciousness and, in my case, add elements of dark humor to the realities of life in the hood…I can’t imagine what my life would be without hip-hop right now.”

After the Disciples of Soul performed “California Love,” Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav and Chuck D delivered a roof-raising performance of “Fight the Power.” Springsteen bopped and fist-pumped along with the rest of the audience. “I love you, Bruce!” Flavor Flav shouted at the end.

Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt rocking out to Public Enemy's set at the 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt rocking out to Public Enemy’s set. Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Next came the induction of the E Street Band by Springsteen’s longtime manager, Jon Landau.

“Having worked with the band for the last 52 years, I can tell you a few key things,” he said. “No modern computer or algorithm would have ever chosen this group of people to work together.” (E Street pianist Roy Bittan, seated next to this reporter, chuckled.)

“[They have] such different backgrounds, styles, tastes and approaches to music,” Landau explained. “And yet…when they plug in and play, they create a sound like no other, a sound you’ve never heard before; a sound more monumental than any rock band has ever created now and, in my opinion, forever. How that happens is a bit of a mystery.”

Bruce Springsteen's longtime manager Jon Landau speaking at the 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

Springsteen’s longtime maganger, Jon Landau, inducted members of E Street Band. Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Landau honored each member: guitarist Steve Van Zandt (“He’s been an architect, helping to shape the band’s sound and spirit”); pianist Roy Bittan (“He doesn’t just play notes; he paints landscapes”); drummer Max Weinberg (“with power and purpose…he brings a sense of urgency to every performance); Garry Tallent (“He doesn’t demand attention, but without him, everything would feel different: less anchored, less whole, less unique”); Patti Scialfa (“the voice of warmth and fire…her presence adds another layer of connection”); and Nils Lofgren (“as hardworking a musician as you’ll find, versatile and…indispensable”).

Landau also honored, in absentia, the late organist Danny Federici (“There was a sense of nostalgia, boardwalks, backstreets woven into every note he played”) and saxophonist Clarence Clemons (“His solos…were emotional climaxes, conversations between instruments and hearts. When Clarence stepped forward, time stood still”).

E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons accepting a posthumous award for his uncle Clarence at the 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons accepting a posthumous award for his uncle Clarence. Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Federici’s son Jason took the mic to accept his late father’s award. He recounted the Flemington native’s musical journey: seeing an accordion player on TV at age five, starting lessons and then playing county fairs under his mother’s management, and being awestruck the first time he saw Springsteen perform as a teen. He “weaved his heart and soul into the music of this beautiful band.”

Current E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons stood in for his late uncle. “Clarence and I had the same size feet, so in a quite literal sense, filling his shoes was never a big issue for me,” Clemons said. “However, his footprint is an entirely different story. That imprint that has indelibly left its mark on me and this band…is monumental.” He invoked Springsteen: “To quote one of our greatest poets: ‘Clarence doesn’t leave E Street when he dies. [He] leaves when we die.’” Springsteen, visibly moved, pounded his chest and blew a kiss to Clemons.

Each of the band’s honorees then gave brief remarks.

Springsteen hugged Clemons, Van Zandt and Lofgren before speaking on behalf of his wife, Patti Scialfa, who has previously explained that she is immunocompromised due to multiple myeloma. “She wants to give you all her love and wants to let you know that she’s doing well,” he said to audience applause. He recalled Scialfa breaking up the “lost” and “wanderin’” boys’ club when she joined the band in 1984. Her voice gave the band’s sound “greater meaning and grounding,” he said, describing it as ”a blend of strength and tenderness and grit and grace….She made the music fuller, richer, more human.”

He also spoke of Scialfa’s own “fearless” songwriting: works that “reveal an artist who’s been unafraid to explore the intimate corners of life: love and longing, family and identity….The truth in her writing whispers instead of shouts.” Onstage, he said, she is both a “fellow performer” and “kindred spirit,” adding, “As a band we’ve been lucky to have her musicianship; I’ve been lucky to have her companionship. So no one’s been luckier than me.” He bowed toward his bandmates onstage, then leaned back into the mic to add, “Love you, Patti.”

Springsteen and the E Street Band then launched into a performance of “Thunder Road,” a fan favorite that was recently scrapped from the band’s nightly setlists on the current American leg of their Land of Hope and Dreams tour.

Springsteen and the E Street Band performing

Springsteen and the E Street Band performing “Thunder Road.” Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Kicking off the final portion of the night, Springsteen returned to the mic to induct his “great friend and love,” Patti Smith. “Before all the revolutionary records, before the legend, there was a young poet, a girl from South Jersey,” Springsteen said, “[She] arrived in New York, nothing but imagination, talent, soul, spirit, love, anger, fearlessness, attitude, resolve. And in the crucible of downtown Manhattan…she really redefined what a rock ‘n’ roll voice could be.” He recalled that her “powerful” debut album in 1975, Horses, “didn’t politely enter the culture; it kicked the door in.”

He spoke of their late ‘70s collaboration on his half-started song “Because the Night,” which Smith finished and released as a “transcendent” hit single. “It needed her voice,” Springsteen said. “There was just something in her voice…the longing…that I had not written into that song. When I sing it every night, it remains one of the high points of our show.” In closing, he addressed Smith directly: “Your work has lit fires in countless souls, including mine.”

Smith took the mic and joked that she had not prepared remarks (“I don’t think I read the email”). She confessed her initial ambivalence about accepting the award—“I know my worth: it’s 70 percent arrogance and 30 percent poetry”—but said she’d decided she couldn’t “go against the wishes of the other Patti [Scialfa],” nor miss an opportunity to thank some of her collaborators, briefly tearing up in the process.

Smith recalled that she’d been “instantly beguiled” by “Because the Night” in its unfinished form, describing it as “relentlessly sensual…anthemic—it just needed a few lyrics.” She ended her speech by thanking Springsteen. “I never even knew you liked my stuff so much….I’ll cherish every word that you said for the rest of my life, and it will give me the courage and some more strength to keep on going,” she said, concluding with, “I got the Boss on my side.” She then sang “Because the Night” with Springsteen on lead guitar and back-up vocals.

Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Flavor Flav and others sing and dance during the final performance at the 2026 2026 American Music Honors hosted by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ

The evening ended with a soaring jam session to “People Have the Power.” Photo: Courtesy of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music/John Cavanaugh

Closing out the ceremony, Smith led the crowd into the evening’s finale, “People Have the Power,” as most of the inductees and guest performers returned to the stage to dance and sing along. “Come on up!” Smith coaxed a hesitant Dr. Dre onstage, then urged the audience to their feet: “Come on, people! Get up!” The song grew more raucous with every passing second: Steve Van Zandt grabbing a cowbell; Flavor Flav riffing into a mic and hugging everyone. To paraphrase Brian Williams from earlier that night, there was practically smoke rising from the stage.

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