Bruce Springsteen Sings for Justice: Who's Next?
American music icons and living legends, where are your protest anthems?
Within a week of DHS federal operatives Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez murdering Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis in broad daylight, The Boss himself released “Streets of Minneapolis.”
Debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart, “Streets of Minneapolis” was the best-selling song in the U.S. within two days.
Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics are not politically timid or self-protective. Every verse unequivocally indicts ICE’s violence and refutes MAGA’s cover stories with words that can’t be mistaken: blood, thugs, dirty lies. He doesn’t just honor the (white) people martyred against their will, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, he calls out those ultimately responsible for their murders: Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, and Donald Trump.
“Imagine being so evil you’re the villain in a Bruce Springsteen song,” a commenter astutely observed online.
In the “winter of ‘26”, New Jersey’s hometown hero speaks to the people of Minneapolis with camaraderie, Here in our home they killed and roamed … Our city's heart and soul persists and our shared values, We’ll take our stand for this land/And the stranger in our midst. And he laments the ugly truth we’re all witnessing: If your skin is black or brown, my friend/You can be questioned or deported on sight.
His outro is one of two unifying calls to action echoing throughout American cities and amplified by Bad Bunny at the Grammys: “ICE OUT.” Springsteen used the actual audio from real demonstrations. (“Release the Epstein files” is the second call to action at every demonstration, here and abroad.)
We are grateful for such an impassioned political anthem calling out this era of taxpayer-funded tyranny. (Never forget that they’re spending our money.)
But.
Why is Springsteen the only one? Where is everyone else?
Where are the rest of the celebrities standing on their decades of fame to inspire millions of fans? It is too lonely at the top. Though he is not alone in creating protest music, Springsteen remains currently and utterly peerless in terms of music royalty leveraging their platforms and outreach for the greater good.
New musicians trying to grow their following across social media are the only ones contributing to the great American protest songbook with Bruce Springsteen. They can’t afford teams of attorneys if the Department of Homeland Security or other federal actors sue them. They can’t necessarily pay their bills if their music doesn’t gain traction. But they are putting their careers on the line to inspire their fellow Americans, to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, and to speak out against injustice.
Across eras and genres American musicians have always confronted injustice. We are a country literally created by rebellion. But our most established musicians with the influence to galvanize millions and the financial stability to insulate themselves from any political fallout or low sales are still silent.
The internet, however, is not silent.
“Hostile Government Takeover”, a quick boppy little jingle went viral in February 2025. A chess player who goes by A Gift from Todd, the singer followed it up with “Build a Ballroom”, a critical exposé of defense contractors with Nazi echoes that quickly got stitched into virtual barbershop quartets.
Mon Rovîa’s “Heavy Foot” is a sweet stomp clap from the Liberian-born Afro-Appalachian singer/songwriter. He doesn’t call out the MAGA administration specifically but this indie folk generally laments American poverty, greed, and systemic gaslighting while softly reminding us we’re stronger together.
“Red Dress” and “Say Her Name” seem to be as little known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls they represent are. If you’re still boycotting Spotify for running ICE recruitment ads and then trying to claim they stopped in response to customer outrage (ICE’s prepaid contract just expired), you can still reference this MMIWG playlist to build your own on another platform. You can learn more about how Indigenous girls and women disproportionately suffer sexual violence, murder, and disappearance throughout Canada and the U.S.
We have so much injustice to challenge.
Have you heard of Jesse Welles? Even with millions of followers, a Dylan-esque voice, and the acoustic down-home Americana vibe MAGA claims to love, the four-time Grammy nominee still hasn’t made it mainstream yet.
His songs “Join ICE” and “Masks Off” are folk rock poetry. Follow him on all platforms so he and his blue jeans can perform on the biggest stages.
What about Chris Housman? This “blueneck” sings sweet country music that calls for unity, exactly what MAGA pundits claim Bad Bunny failed to do with his enormously positive celebration at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
Housman’s song “Up and Down” harkens back to the wordplay of 80s and 90s country lyrics. But instead of just crooning for love, family, or heartbreak (“Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House”, “On the Other Hand”, “She’s Got the Rhythm, I Got the Blues”) Housman calls for community. He invites everyone to see how much more we all have in common with each other than we do with the 1%.
Before U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was having Black journalists arrested, Don Lemon was singing “One Dead in Minnesota” in the snow with KC N Kind, who captioned the video: “Grateful for the moment, mindful of the reason, and humbled that the music is part of something bigger than me.”
Kevin Connor, whose stage name is KC N KIND already sang “No King but the People” and “This Isn’t America” before Renee Good’s murder by ICE operative Jonathan Ross inspired him to write “One Dead in Minnesota” and dedicated it to her.
It is a deeply haunting invocation paired with an up-tempo marching cadence. The lyrics tell the underdog American story of resilience, overcoming oppression, and the kind of history-will-remember righteousness coursing through every frozen protestor risking their safety and their lives.
And it makes the promise we all need to believe: “justice is coming.”
Again, we ask, where are all the celebrities protesting with music? Where is this generation’s Live Aid and “We Are the World”?
The up-and-coming musicians using the internet for the greater good are speaking out. And we need to amplify their voices. The celebrities with extraordinary resources and their own record labels could create their own songs. They could coalesce all these songs from across the web and catapult them into a cohesive modern protest genre.
From the earliest war drums and battle cries to Nordic warrior chants to Underground Railroad spirituals to N.W.A., humanity instinctively, reflexively rejects its own oppression.
While families are being torn apart, children are being traumatized, and civilians are being murdered in broad daylight, which celebrities will lead the people in song? Which musicians will create the modern protest anthems that will soundtrack the movies of the future? The movies the next generation will make about the ones who fought back, the ones who fought for freedom?
As Bruce Springsteen said in dedicating “Streets of Minneapolis” to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, “Stay Free.”
But remember, freedom is not an inert state of being, it is one of the highest human ideals. Consequently, it is always being challenged.
Music alone won’t create freedom. But it can help us fight for it.