Bruce Springsteen Honors Joe Dupug, the Inspiration Behind “Days of Glory”

Bruce Springsteen’s Tribute

Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Joe Dupug, the jug of New Jersey, who inspired his hit “Days of Glory” in 1984.

Remembering Joe Dupug

The dupug recently died from cancer at the age of 75.

“All for a moment, mark the passage of Freehold Native and Ballplayer Joe Dupug,” wrote Springsteen in a post on Instagram. “He was a good friend when I needed it.” “He could abandon this speedball, make you look like a fool”… Glory to the days, my friend.

Dupug and Springsteen grew up together in Freehold, New Jersey, and played baseball in the same youth league. Their accidental meeting in a bar in 1973 served as the foundation for one of the most iconic songs on Springsteen’s album “Born in the USA.”

View this post on Instagram

The post shared by Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VQPW9XRIYM

The classic hit reached five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985 and number 17 on the British Singles Chart.

“Whenever we are together, this is the same dynamic: I am a star, and he is a guy at the end of the bench,” said Dupug in an interview with Palm Beach Post in 2011. “That’s who he always was for me, my right field player.”

He continued: “As soon as I saw Bruce, we returned and closed this place. He had a small entourage with him. They all sat in the stands, but it was just me and him in the bar. Suddenly, it was 1:30 in the morning, and the lights started to blink.”

Joe Dipug, the one who inspired the “Days of Glory” by Bruce Springsteen, dies at 75 – sports https://t.co/lzje1luwan

– Julie K. Brown (@jkbjournist) April 1, 2025

Dupug and Springsteen maintained their friendship throughout their lives, occasionally crossing paths in the Palm Beach area, where Springsteen owns a home, while Dupug resided nearby.

In another event last week, Boss, Blokha, Karen O, Michael Stipe, Johnny Depp, and others performed at an All-Star Jam with Patti Smith at her tribute concert in New York.

During the show, Springsteen and the Night’s House Band, led by longtime Smith band member Tony Shanahan, along with drummer Flea and Rolling Stones Tour member Steve Jordan, also performed “The Night.”

Meanwhile, Teenager star Stephen Graham recently expressed that he was left in tears after Springsteen reached out to praise his performance in the upcoming biographical film Deliver Me from Nowhere.

The film stars Bear Jeremy Allen White as a young Springsteen and follows the Heartland rocker during the creation of the 1982 album, Nebraska, where Graham plays his late father, Douglas “Dutch” Springsteen.