Steven Van Zandt
BIOGRAPHY
Stevie Van Zandt is a Musician, Performer, Songwriter, Arranger, Producer, Actor, Director, International DJ, Activist, Historian, Teacher, New York Times best selling author, Radio Hall of Fame nominee, member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is recognized internationally as one of the world’s foremost authorities on both Contemporary and Traditional Rock and Roll.
After helping create the “Jersey Shore” sound with the Asbury Jukes he became a founding member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and went on to become a successful solo artist in his own right recording and performing solo with his band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.
In 2021 he released his critically acclaimed memoir “Unrequited Infatuations” which debuted as a New York Times bestseller.
His songs have been performed by artists such as Jackson Browne, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Cliff, Damian Marley, Margo Price, Gary U.S. Bonds, Darlene Love, Nancy Sinatra, Brian Setzer, Black Uhuru, and more.
Stevie Co-Produced the seminal Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band albums “The River”, and “Born in the U.S.A.” He has also produced albums for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Gary U.S. Bonds, Ronnie Spector, Demolition 23, Arc Angels, Majek Fashek, and many more. He Arranged and Produced “Introducing Darlene Love,” for the legendary Darlene Love, star of the Oscar winning documentary "Twenty Feet From Stardom."
In 1985, Van Zandt formed Artists United Against Apartheid and wrote “Sun City,” a song featuring over 50 major recording artists protesting the Apartheid system and considered by many political experts to be one of the fatal blows to Apartheid, leading to Nelson Mandela being freed only a few years later. He has twice been honored by the United Nations for his political activism, including the “Sun City” project and film, and his involvement in “International Peace Day” along with Peter Gabriel. He also established the Solidarity Foundation to promote the sovereignty of indigenous peoples and to foster economic development in harmony with the earth.
Stevie Co-Starred in all seven seasons of the Sopranos, playing principle character "Silvio Dante,” a character that he created. He Starred in, Co-Wrote, Executive Produced, provided the music supervision and scoring, and Directed (the final episode) for the award winning series "Lilyhammer,” which was the FIRST original programming for Netflix.
In 2001 he launched “Little Steven’s Underground Garage,” his internationally syndicated radio show and the most successful syndicated Rock music radio show in the past 50 years. Stevie also created and produces the FIRST two channels of original content on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, the Underground Garage (Channel 21) and Outlaw Country (Channel 60). He has recently launched a third channel called Little Steven’s Coolest Songs In The World (Channel 721). In 2006 he began his record label, Wicked Cool Records, to further support new Rock and Roll.
In 2013 he Wrote, Directed, and Co-Produced with Maureen Van Zandt “The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream,” the critically acclaimed theatrical event/reunion concert tour that included a 15 night sold out run on Broadway and then played to over 100,000 people nationwide and in Canada.
In 2013 Dr. Van Zandt (he gave the commencement speech to the Class of 2017 and received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Rutgers University), created the Rock and Soul Forever Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit and has developed a curriculum called TeachRock.org.
TeachRock uses the lens of music to help students connect all subjects, with innovative lesson plans developed by experienced educators and top experts in the field from history, social studies, and language arts to geography, media studies, science, general music, and more. All state certified lesson plans are based around popular music, which provides immediate common ground with children’s interests and passions no matter the subject.
This online educational resource is offered at NO COST to educators and individuals everywhere. With over 200 lesson plans it is now used by more than 65,000 teachers in all 50 states, with 21 official partner schools, and has reached over 1,000,000 students.
“Music will forever be humanity’s most effective and consistent source of inspiration and motivation, and, we have learned, music turns out to be our most solid common ground for establishing communication between teachers and students which is where education begins.” - Stevie Van Zandt
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