Bruce Springsteen used to tell a story about a particular post-9/11 encounter when he was in alone in a parking lot and someone yelled, “We need you now!” That, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said, was the impetus for his 2002 album The Rising.

Bruce Springsteen will be closing Giants Stadium. The rocker told fans at the nearby Izod Center on Thursday that he and his "wrecking crew," the E Street Band, will be the final musical act before the stadium is demolished after the 2009 football season.

This story, part of a special entertainment section on Bruce Springsteen, originally appeared in the Asbury Park Press on July 11, 2003. With great fanfare, "The Rising," Bruce Springsteen's musical response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was released ...