"He’s never worked a day in his life" — Paul McCartney jokes about Bruce Springsteen while honoring him at Ivor Novello Awards

On May 23, 2024, Paul McCartney presented Bruce Springsteen with the Ivor Novello Awards' Academy fellowship, which is the ceremony's highest honor. Springsteen became the first international songwriter to achieve this feat.

Meanwhile, McCartney received the same accolade 20 years ago. Keeping his role as a presenter interactive and funny, the singer introduced Springsteen by stating:

"He's known as being the American working man, but he admits he’s never worked a day in his life. It's true."

Paul McCartney also mentioned that he couldn't think of a more fitting recipient of the award except Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Beyonce, or Taylor Swift, joking that "the list goes on."

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"Like Bruce's concerts, I'm going to keep this brief" — Paul McCartney playfully refers to Bruce Springsteen at award show

While presenting the Ivor Novello fellowship to Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney referred to the former's three-hour-long concerts and jokingly said:

“Like Bruce’s concerts, I’m going to keep this brief."

Moreover, he also stated that he imagined how Springsteen would have fitted into The Beatles. He backed up his theory by mentioning that when it comes to talent, Springsteen would definitely be in the top five. Springsteen took the banter in good spirits and hugged Paul McCartney.

This is not the first time the two musicians have shared the stage. In the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, the Beatles bass guitarist and vocalist took to the pyramid stage as a headliner and invited Dave Grohl as well.

Post this, Sir Paul McCartney told the crowd about another surprise from the East Coast of America, revealing Springsteen on stage. The latter sang hits like Glory Days and I Wanna Be Your Man alongside the former. The duo also performed together on June 16, 2022, at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and at Hyde Park in London in 2012.

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"I'm going to sound really weird up here" — Bruce Springsteen mentions in acceptance speech at Ivor Novello awards

Receiving the prestigious Ivor Novello award, the Boss (Bruce Springsteen's nickname) mentioned that:

"I'm going to sound really weird up here because I sang in the rain all night last night."

For the unversed, Springsteen performed a three-hour concert in Sunderland on May 22, 2024, amid heavy rainfall owing to which his voice sounded a bit hoarse. Despite the weather conditions, the singer didn't consider cancelling the concert and described that the weather consisted of "driving rain, wind roaring."

The Boss added that he saw a crowd standing in front of him in the rain and realized that those were the people he had written about and for. In his acceptance speech, he said that performing for his fans is one of his "greatest privileges and honors" as a musician.

“I want to thank you for taking my music into your hearts and into your souls. I want to thank you for including me in the challenging and beautiful cultural life in the UK,” Springsteen added.

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Apart from honoring Bruce Springsteen, the Ivor Novello Awards winners featured Raye as "Songwriter of the Generation," alongside Lana Del Ray for the "Special International Award" category. Meanwhile, KT Tunstall bagged the trophy for "Outstanding Song Collection".

Previously, this award was given to several other prominent names in the music arena like Elton John, Annie Lennox, and Kate Bush.