As of this writing, Springsteen has been happily married to wife and bandmate Patti Scialfa for more than two decades. However, in 1985, Springsteen wed someone else first — actress Julianne Phillips, who was 11 years his junior. The marriage quickly fell apart, and in 1988, Phillips "filed a one-page petition for divorce," citing, "irreconcilable differences," per The Washington Post. So what happened? Here's why Bruce Springsteen divorced his first wife.
To quote The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen still had a "Hungry Heart" while married to model and actress Julianne Phillips. In his 2016 memoir Born To Run, Springsteen wrote that he unknowingly sabotaged his first marriage due to the couple's lack of commonalities — and his love for bandmate and current wife, Patti Scialfa.
The actress was 11 years younger than the rockstar, who described her as a “talented, beautiful and charming young woman”, but right after the wedding he began experiencing severe anxiety attacks.
Bruce, who was 35 at the time, recalled feeling “scared” but had tried to “keep a lid on it” to avoid worrying Julianne.
Reflecting on his first marriage, the singer now knows he convinced himself of many false issues in their relationship, as he recalled sitting at dinner in a Los Angeles restaurant one night: “As we politely chatted by candlelight, hand in hand, a part of me tried to convince myself she was simply using me to further her career or to get something.”
“Nothing could have been further from the truth.”
Previously, the Glory Days singer hadn’t been in a relationship for longer than three years and as their four-year anniversary neared, the couple hastily separated, with Julianne reportedly requesting a no-talk divorce settlement so she could focus on her work.
The singer admitted he dealt with it “abysmally” by insisting that their separation remain private, but when the news leaked, explaining that it placed Julianne “in a terribly difficult position for a young girl” when the news leaked and candidly added: “I failed her as a husband and a partner.”
"One evening, while I sat across from my beautiful wife in an upscale Los Angeles eatery, a conversation formed silently inside my head," He wrote in his memoir (via Soap Hub). "... [A] part of me tried to convince myself that she was simply using me to further her career or to get . . . something. Nothing could've been farther from the truth."
Ultimately, Springsteen "came clean to [Phillips] as soon as [he] knew how serious [he and Scialfa] were." The singer wrote (via Showbiz 411) : "Patti was a musician, was close to my age, had seen me on the road in all of my many guises and viewed me with a knowing eye," adding, "... I never felt the need to pretend around her."According to the Daily Mail, Scialfa, also a Jersey native, met Springsteen in 1980. In 1984, Scialfa became the only female band member of the E Street Band, per Country Living. Who could compete with that?
May 13, 1985 Little Richard celebrates Bruce Springsteen and Julianne Phillips wedding
The wedding was held behind closed doors at Our Lady Of The Lake Catholic Church, with only 40 guests attending, including Van Zandt and the late Clarence Clemons alongside Springsteen. But already on 21 June the Boss inaugurated the San Siro stadium, with his first concert in Milan. And next to him, on the stage, Patti Scialfa, his wife since 1991.
For Reverend/Minister (Little) Richard Penniman, the best part of being a minister was being legally licensed to perform wedding ceremonies for his friends. Among those couples he joined in holy matrimony? Demi Moore and Bruce Willis in 1987; Bruce Springsteen E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt and his wife Maureen in 1982; singer Cyndi Lauper and her husband, David Thornton in 1991; and the late Tom Petty to Dana York in 2001.
