Steven Van Zandt has announced that he will be forced to sit out several shows with Bruce Springsteen after having to undergo emergency surgery.
The 74-year-old guitarist was set to play the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastian last night (June 23) when he started complaining of sharp stomach pains which caused him to seek medical assistance.
He later explained what had happened on Twitter/X: “Got a sharp pain in my stomach, thought it was food poisoning, turned out to be appendicitis.”
Got a sharp pain in my stomach, thought it was food poisoning, turned out to be appendicitis. Got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian. Operation was a complete success and I'm hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for…June 23, 2025
Springsteen is set to play his second date at the stadium tonight. Van Zandt has said he will definitely miss the performance, as well as the next date in Gelsenkirchen and the first of two dates at Milan’s San Siro stadium.
Van Zandt wrote: “Got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian. Operation was a complete success and I’m hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for all the good vibes. See you soon.”
There’s been no announcement yet from the Springsteen camp of who will step into Van Zandt’s shoes.
It’s been an eventful European tour for the 75 year old rock icon, dominated by headlines over his onstage comments about Donald Trump. He reiterated his criticisms in a new interview with The Times over the weekend, describing the current situation as “an American tragedy... We’re living through a terrible moment in history, where Congress has neutered itself and the boundaries that once curtailed this type of leadership have disintegrated.”
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