All about Bruce Springsteen’s sisters, Virginia and Pamela

Bruce Springsteen may be known as The Boss for his music, but he was also the boss of his family with two younger sisters.

The “Dancing in the Dark” singer, who was born and raised in New Jersey, has a close relationship with both of his sisters, Virginia and Pamela. The trio was raised by Adele and Douglas Springsteen.

Although both of his sisters lead fairly private lives, they both support their older brother’s career, and he has also been inspired by their lives.

Bruce’s upbringing is highlighted in the biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowherewhich hit theaters on October 24. While Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce, child actress Arabella Olivia Clark plays a young version of Virginia. The real-life Virginia showed her support for the film by attending the premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2025.

“She was sitting there with me and we were watching the movie and she was holding my hand, and at the end of it she turns to me and says, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we have this?'” he said during a festival panel then, per Amount.

Here’s everything to know about Bruce Springsteen’s sisters, Virginia and Pamela.

Pamela is a skilled photographer who has shot her older brother

Pamela is Adele and Douglas’ third child and was born in February 1962, according to Peter Ames Carlin’s 2012 biography Bruce. Pam was born after Bruce had already started his musical career, and when she was a child her parents moved her to California.

Earlier in her career, Pamela began acting and appeared in various films and television programs, including Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers, Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland and Modern girls.

She later turned her career towards photography and has photographed various artists and musicians – including her older brother. Pamela photographed several of Bruce’s singles and albums, including the cover of his 1992 album Lucky Town.

In addition to catching her brother, she has also worked with Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton-John, Ice cube, Keith Richards and Vonda Shepard, according to her website. When she is not photographing musicians, she helps with the photography of films and documentaries.

They have supported their brother’s career over the years

As Bruce rose to fame with his poetic rock style, his sisters have shown their support for his career. Pamela posts frequently photos and videos from Bruce’s concerts and encourages her followers to check out his shows, interviews and music.

Although Virginia lives a quieter life, she gave a nod of approval to her brother’s biography by attending the Telluride Film Festival with him.

All three siblings were close to their late mother, Adele

Bruce, Virginia and Pamela all had close relationships with their mother, Adele, before she died on January 31, 2024. She was 98 years old and had lived with Alzheimer’s disease for over a decade.

Bruce mourned his mother’s death by sharing one video of her to dance and caption it with the lyrics to his 1998 song “The Wish”. Pamela also paid tribute to her mother by writing one photo of her smile and wrote that she was their “treasure”.

Before her death, Bruce credited his mother with giving him his first guitar and encouraging him to pursue music as a child.

“My mom loves to dance. She grew up in the ’40s … (with) the big bands and the swing bands, and it was a time when dancing was an existential act,” he said during a 2021 Springsteen on Broadway performance, according to Today.

He continued, “She’s 95 and she’s 10 years into Alzheimer’s and it’s taken a lot from us. But the need to dance hasn’t left her.”

On Mother’s Day 2025, Pamela shared a rare photo of all three siblings smiling with Adele before her death, according to the fan page E Street Nation.

Pamela has a daughter named Ruby

Pamela is married to television and film director and screenwriter Bobby Roth, and they have a daughter, Ruby Roth, born in July 2002.

Pamela celebrated Ruby’s 20th birthday in 2024 by posting a current photo of her daughter at a music festival, as well as a black and white photo of her as a small child.

“You’ve been the light of my life since the day you were born!” she captioned the post.

Bruce wrote his hit song “The River” about Virginia and her husband

Bruce turned to his sister Virginia for inspiration when writing his 1980 album, The river. In the hit song the album is named after, Bruce wrote about the true story of his sister who became pregnant at the age of 18 while in high school.

Shortly after Virginia learned the news, she and her high school boyfriend, Michael “Mickey” Shave, married in a small ceremony, according to the biography Bruce. The singer has previously talked about the experience and explained how it moved him.

“My sister, who lived only half an hour away from me, kind of lived my parents’ life,” he said in a 2021 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “They lived a very good life. Her husband was a construction worker. It was a recession in the ’70s, there wasn’t much work to be had, and really she and her husband were the inspiration for the core of that song.”

Bruce premiered the song at a concert in 1979 with Virginia in the audience.

“It was wonderful that he wrote it and everything, but every bit of it was true and here I am (in the audience), completely exposed,” she said in Bruce. “I didn’t like it at first – but now it’s my favorite song.”

Virginia is the mother of three children

After Virginia and Mickey married and welcomed their first child together, they added two more children to their family. They share sons Michael Jr. and Christopher and daughter Marissa. The couple are also grandparents and have at least three grandchildren, per Bruce.

The couple tragically lost their son, Michael Jr., when he died suddenly on April 14, 2023, at the age of 53, according to his obituary. Before his death he worked as a carpenter and enjoyed hunting. He and his wife, Kerri Ann, had two daughters, Nicole and Samantha.

Bruce paid tribute to his nephew after his death by closing a concert with an acoustic version of his song “I’ll See You in My Dreams” and dedicating the song to Michael Jr., Amount reported then.

Virginia gave her stamp of approval to his biography, Deliver me from nowhere

The movie from 2025 Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere stars Jeremy Allen White as Bruce as he finds his way to becoming the Grammy-winning rock star. But that too highlights some of the personal struggles he endured through the years – including his complicated upbringing.

Bruce was actively involved in making the film, and he later explained that the “most important thing” for him was to have the support and approval of both his sisters.

“I have two sisters, one who was a year younger than me, so she grew up with me through all these experiences,” he shared BBC Radio in October 2025, referring to Virginia. “I didn’t know what she would think, because the film is a bit tough.”

But after Virginia attended the premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, she told him she loved the biopic.

“She came in, sat next to me, she held my hand the whole movie,” he added. “At the end of the movie, she said, ‘God, it’s wonderful that we have this movie that really honors my family. It honors the struggle and the experience that we went through.”