Celebrity Mound

At Wednesday’s “Stand Up for Heroes” benefit at Town Hall for the Bob Woodruff Foundation as part of the NY Comedy Festival, The Boss was the highlight among performers Ricky Gervais, Regis Philbin and Darrell Hammond, reports The Post’s Mandy Stadtmiller. The rock superstar rode onstage on his 1994 Harley, which he was donating – but when bid ding stalled at $40,000, Springsteen literally took off the leather jacket he was wearing to up the ante. The final price was $70,000. After his duet with wife Patti Scialfa, guest auctioneer Whoopi Gold berg said, “No one can follow Bruce.” And who knew CNN’s Christiane Amanpour was such a fan? She bought the guitar he played that night, which he autographed for her backstage, for a whopping $50,000.

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Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel raised about $7 million for Barack Obama’s campaign and delivered a concert that’s already entered into rock legend. Along the way, the Boss and the Piano Man also had a few laughs.

Hanging out in his dressing room before taking the stage at Thursday’s Democratic fund-raiser at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Joel told us he was wary when New Jersey’s first son suggested they perform Joel’s “New York State of Mind” together.

“I said to Bruce, ‘How are you going to sing this song? You’re going to throw in the Pulaski Skyway, aren’t you? Change it to ‘A Garden State of Mind,’” recalled Joel.

But in the end, Springsteen told us afterward, “I decided to stick to the script. We sang it like Billy wrote it.”

Joel said that they thought about performing Joel’s Iraq song, “Christmas in Fallujah.” But they worried about controversy blowing back at the candidate.
“There are some hard words in it,” he pointed out. “That line about, ‘We came with the Crusaders to save the Holy Land.’”

So they stuck to their hits. “Glory Days,” “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” by Bruce. And Billy’s “Allentown,” “Movin’ Out” and others.

Joel admitted he weighed the decision about publicly backing Obama. “I’m popping my cherry with this endorsement,” he told us.

Springsteen told the crowd that “for a long time, I never saw myself as part of any political party. [Now] many Americans have seen the value of their homes and their retirement funds plummet.

“I believe Sen. Obama understands these issues and that he’s taken a measure of that distance in his life and work.”
When Obama took the stage, he confessed that he had told his wife, Michelle, “The reason I’m running for President is that I cannot be Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel.”

P.S.: The concert, orchestrated by Harvey Weinstein, John Sykes and Anna Wintour, was recorded. Word is Obama will have a screening as a reward for his campaign staff.

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Another Super Bowl, another rock ‘n’ roll superstar at halftime. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show in Tampa, Fla., the NFL and NBC announced Sunday night.

Continuing a run of major talent that has lately included the Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the biggest television event in the nation will showcase one of its most beloved rock ‘n’ roll artists. The Super Bowl will be played Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium.

Last year’s halftime show was watched by more than 148 million viewers in the U.S., the NFL said in its release. It wasn’t always that way: For years, the game’s halftime show was made up of local and college marching bands and drill teams.

Chubby Checker in 1988 was the first popular musician to perform at halftime, and Michael Jackson upped the ante in 1993. His sister Janet provided the show’s most infamous moment with 2004’s “wardrobe malfunction” – and the show has stuck with straight ahead rock acts ever since.

THE next Super Bowl is really going to rock. This year, Tom Petty rocked the halftime crowd at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. But Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1 in Tampa will feature Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, sources said. “He was just confirmed,” a spy added. “Little Stevie (Van Zandt) has already rented out the Hard Rock Café for a party.” A Boss rep didn’t return calls or e-mails.

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Olympic equestrian Todd Minikus charged that Springsteen reneged on a contract to buy his star gelding, Pavarotti, for $850,000. The horse was to help the Boss’ teen daughter, Jessica, in her fledgling equestrian career, but it “didn’t perform well” after Springsteen put down a $25,000 deposit, reports The Palm Beach Post, which says the rocker paid $200,000 to settle the case out of court. Springsteen’s rep didn’t return our call.

Bruce Springsteen is born to run – from marriage.

Several sources have told The Post that the superstar who wrote “Hungry Heart” and his second wife of almost 20 years, Patti Scialfa, are on the rocks and virtually living separate lives.

Part of the problem seems to be a friendship Springsteen developed with a stunning 9/11 widow The Boss is said to have met when he organized the “America: A Tribute to Heroes” telethon.

“They’re separated, but everyone has been sworn to secrecy,” one pal of the couple told The Post’s Jeane MacIntosh. “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”

Springsteen and the woman – who is a redhead, just like Scialfa – have been spotted several times at the Beacon Hill Beach Club in Monmouth, N.J., said one local source. The two have also been spotted at the Stone Pony, the Asbury Park watering hole from Springsteen’s Glory Days.

The widow is said to be a member of the swank Atlantic Club gym in Red Bank. Her children attend the exclusive Ranney School in Tinton Falls with Springsteen’s kids.

But a Bruce pal said, “He’s just a really big flirt. There’s nothing going on.” Another friend said, “Bruce and Patti are very much partners. They go at it a lot and fight, but they also work at it a lot . . . Patti is a strong woman. They are not going anywhere.”

Springsteen and Scialfa vacationed with their children in upstate New York last month, but in recent weeks, he has been spotted alone with his kids at a local beach. Pals said he’s been spending less time at the family’s Rumson home and more time at a guest house on the couple’s farm in Colts Neck, about 20 minutes away. Springsteen is said to have attended his daughter Jessica’s eighth-grade graduation solo and spent a lot of time with Robert De Niro at a beach in Atlantic Highlands.

Scialfa’s mom, Victoria Scialfa, told us, “I don’t know anything about it; I don’t want to talk about it.” A representative for Springsteen, who was married to Julianna Phillips when he started seeing Scialfa in 1987, declined comment.