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The Closest Bruce Springsteen Got to a No. 1 Song

The Closest Bruce Springsteen Got to a No.  1 Song

Some of the biggest classic rock stars weren’t radio giants. Case in point: Bruce Springsteen never managed to have a No. 1 single, but he did get to No. 2. Interestingly, he worried that broadening his appeal could backfire.

1 Bruce Springsteen pop hit was about his ‘alienation’

Springsteen’s only single to make it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 was “Dancing in the Dark.” In his 2016 book Born to Run, Springsteen explained what he was thinking when he penned “Dancing in the Dark.” “That evening I wrote ‘Dancing in the Dark,’ my song about my own alienation, fatigue, and desire to get out from inside the studio, my room, my record, my head and … live,” he recalled. “This was the record and song that’d take me my farthest into the pop mainstream.”

Springsteen had mixed feelings about embracing dance music with “Dancing in the Dark.” “I was always of…