Catherine Lyst
BBC Scotland News
Laura Roy
A young Bruce Springsteen fan from North Lanarkshire became the envy of millions when she got to play a harmonica duet with the star during his gig at Anfield Stadium.
Holly Roy, 12, from Carfin, was at the Liverpool concert with her mum Laura on Wednesday when her harmonica-playing caught the eye of the 75-year-old rocker.
Holly had been near the front of the standing section when “The Boss” saw her as he went on a walkabout in front of the stage during his song The Promised Land.
As she sat on a fellow fan’s shoulders, they played the harmonica section together before Springsteen gave Holly his harmonica.
Holly, who has only been playing harmonica for about a year, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings programme she felt “amazing”.
“It was really good as he was walking by and singing to me and then he came back and we played together,” she said. “Then he gave me his harmonica after that and just hi-fived.”
Holly’s mother Laura told the programme Holly had been practising on the pitch as they waited for Springsteen to come on.
“A few people noticed and a lovely man from Japan said that when Bruce was playing The Promised Land, Holly should go up on his shoulders.”
However, Holly’s encounter with the New Jersey singer almost didn’t happen as security staff told Laura to take Holly off the man’s shoulders and they followed the order.
Laura said: “Bruce started to approach the area where we were standing and he caught her eye so we put her back up on the man’s shoulders and they played together.
“It was just amazing. I’ve been a mega fan since Covid when I watched all the concerts during lockdown while Holly has become a fan in the past year.”
Bruce Springsteen has sold more than 71 million albums in the US and over 140 million worldwide and along with his E Street band he has frequently appeared in lists ranking the best live acts of all time.
He is renowned for pulling people out of the audience to perform or dance with him on stage.
He famously got young actress Courtney Cox (who played Monica in Friends) dancing on stage during a concert in the 1980s which was featured in his video for Dancing in the Dark.
Although he had been told who to choose, Springsteen assumed she was just a fan, however it later emerged that she had been chosen by the video director from a casting call.
After that, Springsteen got someone from the audience to dance with him to the same song throughout his Born in the USA tour of 1984-85.
