On This Day, June 29, 1984: Bruce Springsteen kicked off his Born in the U.S.A. tour

On This Day, June 29, 1984…

Bruce Springsteen kicked off the Born in the U.S. A. tour in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The tour featured the E Street Band debuts of guitarist Nils Lofgren, who replaced Stevie Van Zandt who left to record a solo album, and Springsteen’s future wife Patti Scialfa.

During opening night, director Brian De Palma shot the video for the Born in the U.S.A. single “Dancing in the Dark.” The performance clip ends with Springsteen pulling a fan onstage to dance with him. In reality, the woman, a then unknown actress named Courteney Cox, was placed in the front row so Bruce could pull her onstage to dance.

The video became a huge MTV hit and the song became Bruce’s biggest-ever single, spending four weeks at #1 and selling over a million copies.

Cox went on to become a huge star, thanks to the successful NBC series Friends, the Scream movie franchise and more.

The tour wrapped in October 1985, after hitting North America twice, Asia, Australia and Europe.