Steven Van Zandt

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Steven Van Zandt, born Steven Lento in 1950, grew up in New Jersey and hung around the club scene of the Jersey Shore from an early age. Around 1970 he became a friend of Bruce Springsteen and played with him in bands such as Steel Mill. Because of his Hawaiian shirts he got the nickname Miami Steve. He co-founded Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, wrote many of their songs and produced their first records, including Hearts of Stone.

Music and breakthrough

In 1975 he arranged the horns for Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and contributed to the guitar line of Born to Run. On 20 July 1975 he officially became a member of the E Street Band, in which he played guitar and mandolin. In 1984 he left to go solo with Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. On the album Voice of America his music became emphatically political. Since 1999 he has played with the E Street Band again. He also became known as an actor, including as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos.

Influence

For the course, his activism is what matters most. In 1985 he founded Artists United Against Apartheid, in response to the Sun City resort in South Africa. Forty-nine artists, including Springsteen, Bono, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Ringo Starr, Joey Ramone and Run DMC, recorded the song Sun City and declared in it that they would never perform there. In this way Van Zandt showed that a pop record can also be a political statement.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1984Voice of America
• 1987Freedom: No Compromise
• 1988Revolution
• 1999Born Again Savage
• 2017Soulfire
• 2019Lilyhammer: The Score Volume 1: Jazz (soundtrack)
• 2019Lilyhammer: The Score Volume 2: Folk, Rock, Rio, Bits and Pieces (soundtrack)

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 7: The 1980s^NL Reader