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Dancing in the dark
Born in the USA
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Jake Clemons 2023 portrait by Danny Clinch
Jake ClemonsSaxophone

Jake Clemons joined the E Street Band for the Wrecking Ball Tour in 2012. In Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen writes that “Jake had E Street soul in his blood and bones,” and in his decade-long tenure, he has pulled off the balancing act of carrying on his uncle Clarence Clemons' legacy while establishing himself as his own musician. He played on the Wrecking Ball, High Hopes, and The River tours, and he appears on the albums High Hopes and Letter to You.

Growing up as the son of a Marine Corps band director, Clemons attended the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts to study jazz performance and has since used those skills alongside a variety of artists including Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters, The Roots, and The Swell Season. Clemons had actually released his debut EP, It’s On, in 2011, prior to his first shows with Springsteen. Since then, he has put out a steady stream of his own music, including the Embracing Light EP in 2013, and two full-length albums, Fear & Love (2017) and Eyes on the Horizon, which the Asbury Park Press named one of the best albums of 2019. His songs address such topics as domestic abuse and the polarized state of our union and have featured notable collaborators including Tom Morello and Allison Russell.

In between E Street outings, Clemons maintains a busy tour schedule with his own band, across the US and overseas (what he describes as a “perpetual world tour”). On stage, he can be seen playing tenor and baritone saxophone and percussion and contributing backing vocals, but he is also skilled at the piano, flute, clarinet, bass, drums, and guitar—with plans to continue learning more instruments.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND
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