MINNEAPOLIS — It took him five decades to finally perform at First Avenue, but it took Bruce Springsteen only two months to get his name painted on the star-lined wall outside Minneapolis’ landmark rock club.

First Ave staff unveiled the Boss’ newly embossed star just a few hours ahead of his March 31 sold-out concert across the street at Target Center. He officially earned the star with his Jan. 30 appearance at the anti-ICE protest concert led by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who is performing with Springsteen and his E Street Band on tour this spring.

Springsteen’s silver star was given a primo location at ground level a few spots down from the red George Floyd star on the northwest side of the building. His star replaced that of Los Angeles punk legends X, whose names will be repainted a few spots over, according to club reps.

“In honor of his recent performance in the First Avenue Mainroom and tireless advocacy work for the state of Minnesota, we’re proud to have @springsteen’s name on our wall forever,” First Ave staff wrote in social media posts celebrating the new star.

In a separate post, First Ave owner Dayna Frank noted, “Yup, this one is special. Welcome to the wall, @springsteen.”

At the Jan. 30 concert, Springsteen performed “Streets of Minneapolis” for the first time, the topical song he rush-released that week in reaction to Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities. He performed the song again at the March 28 “No Kings” rally at the Minnesota State Capitol, arriving early to the Twin Cities to begin rehearsals with the E Street Band ahead of their tour kickoff.

Talking to the Minnesota Star Tribune ahead of the Target Center concert, he singled out the First Ave appearance as one of the most “meaningful” performances of his career.

“Being in Minneapolis [in January] goes way up to the top of the list as far as meaningful shows I’ve played,” he said.

“That was exciting. First of all, just being in Minneapolis at that moment was very meaningful. Tom invited me. Being in that club meant a lot. I knew the history of the club itself and knowing how much a place like that means to a certain city.”

When Springsteen was first coming up as a touring artist in the early 1970s, First Ave had already outlived its first incarnation as a rock club (opened as the Depot in 1970) and had been renamed and reconfigured into more of a disco club called Uncle Sam’s. So he never really had a chance to play there on his way up.

The last star painted on the side of First Avenue was Lizzo’s, when the former Twin Citian returned to town to play an underplay show there in March 2025. Look for more stars to go up soon, First Ave staff reported.

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