The 2025 American Music Honors, presented by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, honored some bona fide legends with a star-studded event saluting guitarists and singer-songwriters from across the musical spectrum.
Among them was Tom Morello, John Fogerty, Joe Ely, and Emmylou Harris, as well as the multi-hyphenate crooner Smokey Robinson. All honorees were in attendance, except for Ely, who could not make it to the ceremony due to health issues.
Bruce Springsteen himself and members of the E Street Band were also present, with the Boss playing host and wielding his Fender Tele to perform with some of the honorees.
“If I hear my name again, I’m going to fucking throw up,” Springsteen joked when he took podium. “Let’s talk about someone else.”
And with that, the spotlight shifted to the veritable list of honorees. Tom Morello graced the audience with his take on Springsteen’s Woody Guthrie-inspired The Ghost of Tom Joad – using his Arm the Homeless custom guitar – and delivering a searing, rage-filled solo reminiscent of Hendrix's iconic Star-Spangled Banner Woodstock performance.
“That is called ‘playing the shit out of the guitar!’” commented Brian Williams, the evening's official host, right after the Rage Against the Machine guitarist’s performance.
Fogerty performed Creedence Clearwater Revival classics Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary, and Fortunate Son on a rented black Gibson Les Paul Custom – a performance made even more emotional by his long battle to reclaim the rights to his catalog.
“Inside I knew I loved music, and the rest of it just kind of burned me out," he asserted. "The worst part about it was I didn’t own my own songs. So, it became a lifetime battle… For a long time, I didn’t even sing my own songs because I was so angry or bitter about the whole thing. But I still loved music. Music is my best friend.”
Emmylou Harris was accompanied by Patti Scialfa – who called Harris “one of my favorite artists in the world” – in performing Red Dirt Girl, from the veteran artist's 19th studio album of the same name, while Steven Van Zandt honored Robinson and joined him for a spirited duet of Tears of a Clown.
“I have singer heroes, songwriter heroes, song arranger heroes, and music producer heroes, and when you have all of them in the same guy, you get Smokey Robinson,” said Van Zandt. “One can obviously connect a dozen of my songs to his influence.”
The encore saw Springsteen join forces with both Van Zandt and Robinson for their own rendition of The Miracles' Going to a Go-Go, before 2024's honoree Jackson Browne joined the supergroup for a raucous take on Take It Easy, the Eagles' debut single.
The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music aims to preserve the legacy of the Boss – while also celebrating the history and breadth of American music. The research center is currently located on the Monmouth University campus, with a new 30,000-square-foot facility scheduled to open in spring 2026.
In other Springsteen news, Shayne Fontayne recently opened up about the challenges of filling the shoes of Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren as the Boss’s guitarist during the 1992–1993 “Other Band” Tour.
