Bruce Springsteen's Wife Patti Scialfa Reveals Rare Blood Cancer Diagnosis: 'Touring Has Become a Challenge'

Patti Scialfa is opening up for the first time about her six-year journey with multiple myeloma.

The longtime E Street Band member was diagnosed with the blood cancer in 2018, and has since faced difficulties performing, she reveals in the new documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Scialfa, 71, is married to rocker Bruce Springsteen, and has been a member of his legendary band since 1984.

Road Diary, which premiered on Sunday, Sept. 8 at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows Springsteen, 74, and his band members as they prepare, and eventually embark upon, their first tour since 2017, which remains ongoing.

“I’ve been performing with this band for 40 years. With those first performances, it felt so good to be back onstage. Touring has become a challenge for me,” Scialfa says in the documentary. “In 2018, well, Bruce and I were doing a play on Broadway. I was diagnosed with early stage multiple myeloma.”

The musician explains that while the illness has forced her to take caution with the things she decides to do, it hasn’t put a damper on her love of performing.

“This affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” she says in the doc. “Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs onstage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”

Scialfa says she especially loves singing “Fire” with Springsteen, her husband of 33 years, as she considers their performance of the 1977 song “very personal, in a way.” The couple — who share sons Evan, 34, and Sam, 30, and daughter Jessica, 32 — often perform the track as a romantic and playful duet.

“You can see a side of our relationship that you usually don’t get to see,” she says. “Being back onstage with Bruce is a blast. Every night at this tour gives the band a chance to celebrate.”

The documentary marks the first time Scialfa has publicly addressed her diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, which are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune system, according to the American Cancer Society.

Springsteen, meanwhile, has faced his own health setbacks, as he announced last year that he was seeking treatment for peptic ulcer disease.

Road Diary features interviews with more than a dozen E Street Band members, including the late Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici. The film, directed by Thom Zimny, offers fans an intimate peek at the hard work and sincere camaraderie that went into putting on their tour.

“Our new film, Road Diary, will take you on a journey from behind the scenes at rehearsals to shows that we performed all around the world this year,” Springsteen said in a recent teaser on Instagram. “You’ll get to experience a little bit of the fun and the magic that we get to experience every night.”

The documentary will hit Hulu and Disney+ on Oct. 25.