ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen’s wife and E Street bandmate, says she has been dealing with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.
In a documentary about the band that premiered Sunday, the 71-year-old Scialfa said she was diagnosed with the disease in 2018.
The guitarist said the condition has led her to curtail touring with the band.
“This affects my immune system, so I have to be careful about what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” she said in the film, titled “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.”
“Every once in a while I get to a show or two and I get to sing a few songs on stage, and it’s been a treat,” she said. “It’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m okay with that.”
A spokesman for Scialfa said Monday that no further information about her condition would be released, including whether she is currently being treated for the disease.
She did not attend the film’s premiere in Toronto.
Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984, and married Springsteen in 1991. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. She has also performed as a solo artist.
Springsteen had to postpone some tour dates in the last two years due to stomach ulcers and vocal problems. He is scheduled to play a music festival in Asbury Park, the Jersey Shore town intimately associated with his music, on September 15.
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