Steven Van Zandt

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Steven Van Zandt at Social Media Weekend in New York City 2018

Steven Van Zandt (* 22. November 1950 as Steven Lento in Winthrop , Massachusetts ) is an American rock musician , actor and radio host . He became known first as a guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's ' E Street Band ' and later as an actor in the television series The Sopranos and Lilyhammer .

biography

As a musician he is known by the pseudonyms Little Steven and Miami Steve . Along with Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and Billy Chinnock, he is one of the co-founders of the "Sound Of Asbury Park (SOAP)". Although he was close friends with Springsteen as a teenager and played in his band Steel Mill , he only joined the ' E Street Band ' in July 1975 during the recording of Born to Run , on which he was initially a co-producer . The album was the breakthrough for Springsteen and his band. After his successful time with the E Street Band , Van Zandt left them in 1984 ( Nils Lofgren took over his role as guitarist ) to devote himself to various music projects. For example, he fronted the group 'The Disciples of Soul'.

Van Zandt has repeatedly shown himself to be a political activist in the course of his career. In 1985, for example, he founded the Artists United Against Apartheid initiative against the Sun City leisure and amusement park complex in South Africa. Together with 49 internationally known artists (including Bruce Springsteen, Bono , Bob Dylan and Run-DMC ) Van Zandt recorded the song Sun City , in which the artists assured that they would never perform there. On May 21, 1987 he appeared as a musical guest live on stage at an aftershow by Prince in Munich in the Park Café.

In 1999 the 'E Street Band' - after a long break since 1991 - was re-formed by Springsteen. Van Zandt was also there again, together with Nils Lofgren. They went on a big European and US tour and then played in 2002 under the impact of terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 with The Rising a new studio album one.

After a minor extra role in the 1980s, Van Zandt's acting career did not begin until 1999. He took over the role of 'Silvio Dante' in the US television series The Sopranos . He embodied in a strip club owner who is a member of the Mafia of New Jersey and one of the closest friends of the boss, Tony Soprano, is one whose consigliere (advisor) he is. With this series, first published on the US pay TV channel HBO , he won several film and television awards together with the other protagonists. His appearances became increasingly rare in the second and third seasons of the series, as he had a tight schedule due to the tour with the 'E Street Band'. In the sixth season he was seen again in a leading role. In total, he worked in 81 of the 86 episodes, and in four episodes of the series also on the soundtrack . After the TV series ended, he founded the record company 'Wicked Cool Records' in 2006.

In 2002 Van Zandt started a radio program called Little Steven's Underground Garage , in which he dealt with garage rock and other sub-genres of rock music . In 2007 he founded the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, a non-profit organization teaching the history of rock. The TeachRock program started in autumn 2013 . The founding board includes, in addition to Van Zandt as chairman, Bruce Springsteen, Bono , Jackson Browne and the director Martin Scorsese . From 2010 Van Zandt gained some presence through television appearances in Norway - in the soap opera Hotel Cæsar on the TV 2 channel and, from 2012, in the Norwegian-American TV series Lilyhammer , in which he is a mafia boss who through a witness protection program in Norway is hidden. Van Zandt had been co-producing and writing the script since the first season .

Van Zandt has been wearing his trademark, a bandana , since the days of the 'E Street Band' to hide the scars of a head injury (no hair grows back here). He had sustained the injuries to a windshield in a car accident at a young age.

He has been married to actress Maureen Van Zandt since 1982 .

actor

Film awards

  • 1999: Award as part of the best acting company in a television series (Category: Drama) for The Sopranos
  • 2007: Award as part of the best acting company in a television series (Category: Drama) for The Sopranos

Discography

For the placement of albums together with other artists, see the associated artist page.

Solo albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US
1982 Men Without Women US118 (18 weeks)
US
as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
1984 Voice of America US55 (17 weeks)
US
as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
1987 Freedom - No Compromise US80 (12 weeks)
US
as Little Steven

More solo albums

  • 1989: revolution
  • 1999: Born Again Savage
  • 1999: Greatest Hits
  • 2014: Lilyhammer: The Score
  • 2017: Soulfire
  • 2018: Soulfire Live!
  • 2019: Summer of Sorcery (as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul)

With Bruce Springsteen

With Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes

  • 1976: I Don't Want To Go Home
  • 1976: Live at the Bottom Line
  • 1977: This Time It's for Real
  • 1978: Hearts of Stone
  • 1979: Havin 'a Party
  • 1991: Better Days
  • 2007: Jukebox

With Ronnie Spector & E Street Band

  • 1977: Say Goodbye To Hollywood / Baby Please Don't Go

With Gary US Bonds

  • 1981: Dedication
  • 1982: On The Line
  • 1984: Standing in the Line of Fire

With Artists United Against Apartheid

  • 1985: Sun City

With Iron City Houserockers

  • 1980: Have a Good Time but Get Out Alive!

With meat loaf

With Jimmy Barnes

  • 1985: For the Working Class Man

With Davie Allan & The Arrows

  • 2004: Fuzz for the Holidays

With Darlene Love

  • 2015: Introducing Darlene Love

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ultimateclassicrock.com: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Steve Van Zandt (English)
  2. ↑ Her sjekker “Sopranos” - Silvio inn på “Hotel Cæsar” - kjendis - Dagbladet.no . Kjendis.no. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Norge for "Lilyhammer" først likevel - Dagbladet.no . Dagbladet.no. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  4. ↑ Lilyhammer trailer . youtube.com. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  5. ^ Sarfraz Manzoor: The third act of Steven Van Zandt. The Guardian , December 4, 2005, accessed November 18, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Chart sources: Little Steven US

Web links

Commons : Steven Van Zandt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Van Zandt, Steven
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lento, Steven (real name); Little Steven; Miami Steve
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, record producer, and actor
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Winthrop , Massachusetts