Bruce Springsteen enjoys international No. 1 book, Top Five album success with 'Born to Run' & 'Chapter and Verse'

Bruce Springsteen’s 'Born to Run' autobiography was the top-selling book in multiple countries last week, earning raves from fans and critics worldwide. ‘Chapter and Verse,’ the audio companion CD to the gripping 528-page memoir, is 2016’s highest-debuting artist compilation, entering the Billboard 200 albums chart this week at No. 5.

'Born to Run' topped the New York Times Best Sellers list in the US and also debuted at No. 1 in the UK/Ireland, Canada, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. ‘Chapter and Verse’ bowed in the Top 10 in 16 countries besides the US, with No. 2 debuts in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Austria, and Italy. The album's No. 3 debut in Portugal gave Springsteen his highest chart entry there in more than a decade.

Springsteen’s public appearances to support 'Born To Run' have been epic and emotional, with than 2,000 fans packing the Barnes & Noble near Highway 9 in Freehold, NJ, on the book’s release day, September 27. After greeting more than 1,000 fans at NY’s Union Square Barnes & Noble, Springsteen was interviewed by Apple's Senior VP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue for a SoHo Apple Store event that streamed live on Facebook. Tickets for Springsteen’s meet-and-greet at the Philadelphia Free Library sold out in nine minutes. In Los Angeles, fans began lining up outside The Grove shopping center three days early. Ticket demand for his appearance at Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., crashed the store’s website.

If you'd like to check out Terry Gross's interview with Bruce for NPR's Fresh Air, see below.

Praise for ‘Born to Run’:

· “As profoundly inspiring as his best music … brutally honest, philosophically deep, stabbingly funny and, perhaps most important, refreshingly humble.” — Los Angeles Times

· "Glorious...a philosophically rich ramble through a rock 'n roll life. ... It's the lyric he was born to write." — USA Today

· “Darkness on the edge of genius … Bruce Springsteen is one of the great short story writers. At his wildest he’s Damon Runyon. At his best he’s Raymond Carver.” — Roddy Doyle in Irish Times

· “For the Springsteen fan, this book is the definitive commentary on every note he has played. For the rest of us, it is a road trip into the American soul.” — The Times (London)

Praise for ‘Chapter and Verse’:

· “A beautiful ride” — Pitchfork

· “A revelatory mix… full of unheard gems” — Rolling Stone

· “An engrossing retrospective” — Vice Noisey

· “Reinforces Springsteen’s status as one of our greatest living soul men” — American Songwriter