Wrecking Ball World Tour

The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, Wrecking Ball, which was released on March 5, 2012. It was the first tour for the E Street Band without founding member Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18, 2011. The worldwide tour in support of the album, which ended in September 2013, reached 26 countries, the most ever for one of Springsteen's tours. The tour resumed in January 2014 to promote Springsteen's new album, High Hopes, and went under that album's name.

In an attempt to fill the void left by Clemons, Springsteen added a full horn section, which included Jake Clemons, Clarence's nephew. Three background singers and a percussionist were also added, giving the E Street Band its largest lineup ever at seventeen members. As with previous tours, Springsteen's wife and band member, Patti Scialfa, did not appear at all the shows due to family commitments. Guitarist Steven Van Zandt was also unable to perform on the band's Australian leg due to the filming of his television show, Lilyhammer. Van Zandt was replaced by Tom Morello for those dates.

The tour featured over 215 different songs performed, including some songs either making their live debuts or returning after an extended absence.

The tour was named the second highest-grossing tour of 2012 and was the most attended tour of the year, winning the Billboard Touring Award for Top Draw. For the first half of 2013, the tour was named one of the top three grossing tours for the year.

At the end of 2012, the tour placed second on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $210.2 million from 81 shows in Europe. At the end of 2013, the tour placed fifth on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $145.4 million from 46 shows in Europe. Overall, the tour grossed $340.6 million from 124 shows. The tour was Springsteen and the E Street Band's highest grossing tour until the 2023–2025 Tour.

Private rehearsals started in late January 2012 at the Expo Theater in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, the same site where rehearsals were held for the Tunnel of Love Express Tour and the Rising Tour. Some rehearsals were held at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton to allow the band and crew to try a new stage design.

It was announced on February 9, 2012, that Eddie Manion and Clarence Clemons's nephew, Jake Clemons, would share saxophone duties with Clemons handling most of the lead solos. Additional horns were provided by Clark Gayton, Curt Ramm, and Barry Danielian. Everett Bradly provided percussion and backing vocals while Curtis King Jr. and Cindy Mizelle returned as background singers. Michelle Moore joined the tour as a background singer featuring on Rocky Ground for the rap (as on the album).

In advance of the album's release on March 5, 2012, the band kicked off a string of warm-up performances prior to the tour, including a performance of the album's first single, "We Take Care of Our Own", at the 54th Grammy Awards. During the final week of February, talk show host Jimmy Fallon dedicated an entire week of his show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to Springsteen's music. Different artists covered Springsteen's songs each night of that week.