“There simply isn’t another sound like Sam’s soulful tenor in American music,” Springsteen writes of musical influence, friend and collaborator
Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Sam Moore — a musical influence, friend, and collaborator to the E Street rocker — following the death of the soul legend Friday at the age of 89.
“Over on E Street, we are heartbroken to hear of the death of Sam Moore, one of America’s greatest soul voices,” Springsteen wrote on social media Saturday. “There simply isn’t another sound like Sam’s soulful tenor in American music.”
Moore, who once called Springsteen “one of my best friends,” performed with him both onstage and in the recording studio: Moore sang backup on three Human Touch tracks, with Springsteen returning the favor on Moore’s “Better to Have and Not Need.”
Springsteen and Moore also share the stage together on a handful of occasions, most notably at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary concert in New York in October 2009, where they performed “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’” with the E Street Band.
“Having had the honor to work with Sam on several occasions, he was a sweet and funny man,” Springsteen wrote Saturday. “He was filled with stores of the halcyon days of soul music, and to the end had the edge of deep authenticity in his voice I could only wonder at.”
Springsteen — who said in a 2022 interview that “Sam and Dave were gigantic in my musical development” and called Moore “our greatest living soul singer” — added in his tribute, “We offer our prayers to his wife Joyce and thanks for the immortal recordings Sam left us. God bless.”
Following news of Moore’s death, Springsteen’s E Street band mate Steven Van Zandt wrote on social media, “RIP Sam Moore. One of the last of the great Soul Men. Him and Dave Prater were the inspiration for me and Johnny to start Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. An important righteous wonderful man.”
