Bruce Springsteen guitarist and rock legend Steven Van Zandt pulls out of shows due to emergency appendicitis operation

The 74-year-old guitarist and mandolin player assumed he had a bout of food poisoning - but it ended up being painful inflammation of the appendix.

The musician and Sopranos legend - who is also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve - has had successful surgery at a hospital in San Sebastián, Spain, and is hoping to be recovered enough to reunite with his bandmates in Milan, Italy, on either of their shows on June 30 or July 3.

He announced on X: "Got a sharp pain in my stomach, thought it was food poisoning, turned out to be appendicitis. Got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian. Operation was a complete success and I'm hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for all the good vibes. See you soon."

The Boss and co play Milan on Tuesday night (24.06.25), and Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 27. There is no word on who will step in for Steven.

Meanwhile, Springsteen is set to release Tracks II: The Lost Albums, an 83-track box set, on June 27. He said: “The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released. I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.”

And there is more to come, with Tracks III ready to go and five more albums in the series. Springsteen told The New York Times: “[There are] five full albums of music.“There was a lot of good music left."