Vivienne Patricia Scialfa was born on July 29, 1953 (some sources say 1956 or '52, but that's definitly wrong!) at 2:45 pm in Deal (New Jersey/ USA). Patti's mother is Irish. That's where her red hair comes from. Scialfa is an Italian name, so I suppose that her father is Italian.

When Patti was eighteen years old she began to sing and play in bands of the Jersey Shore music scene, including Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes (in the early 80ies).

Patti first auditioned for the E Street Band when she was just seventeen, but Bruce told her to stay in school and finish before taking on another job... She finished school, but she stayed in touch with the music of the Jersey Shore.
In 1984 Bruce asked her for an audition for a spot in the 1984 E Street line up. He invited her one night to play an acoustic set with him and Nils Lofgren. After that he asked her to meet the band  at the soundstage near Philadelphia, where the band was rehearsing for the following tour. But after three days Bruce sent Patti back home. But the very same night Bruce phoned her and asked if she liked to meet him in St. Paul.
She joined the E Street Band as the first woman a few days before the start of the "Born in the USA" tour. She started as a backup singer. Patti: "The first time I saw Bruce he was opening up for Jethro Tull, before he had a record deal. (...) I went to see Bruce because I was singing in that area with different bands and I wanted to get in a good rock band and he had the best rock band."

It's been said that Patti had a longtime crush on Bruce when she joined the band as a backupsinger. Bruce's affair to Patti is said to have broken up Bruce's marriage with Julianne Phillips.

On August 6th, 1991 Bruce and Patti married in Los Angeles (California/ USA). On July 25th, 1990 they got parents of their first son 'Evan James'; on December 30th, 1991 Bruce and Patti became parents again of their daughter 'Jessica Rae' and on January 5th, 1994 'Sam Ryan' was born.

In the 80ies and the 90ies (also in the very late 70ies) Patti sang the background vocals on different albums of different more and less well-known artists, e.g.: Buster Poindexter - "Buster Poindexter" (1979?); Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes - "Love is a Sacrifice" (1980); Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes - "Reach Up and Touch the Sky" (1981); Rolling Stones - "Dirty Work" (1986); Keith Richards - "Talk Is Cheap" (1988); Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers - "American Babylon" (1995); Emmylou Harris "Red Dirt Girl" (1999).

In 1993 Patti released a solo-album titled "Rumble Doll" (featured tracks: 1. Rumble Doll; 2. Come Tomorrow; 3. In My Imagination; 4. Valerie; 5. As Long as I (Can Be with You); 6. Big Black Heaven; 7. Love's Glory; 8. Lucky Girl; 9. Charm Light; 10. Baby Don't; 11 Talk to Me Like the Rain; 12. Spanish Dancer// Musicians on the record: Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren, Mike Campbell, Tim Pierce (guitar), Soozie Tyrell (violin), Zach Alford, Gary Mallaber (drums), Cliff Carter (bass), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Roy Bittan (keyboards), Rob Jaczko, Bobbye Ball (percussion), Lisa Lowell (vocals)). All songs were written by Patti (produced by Mike Campbell). Critics called the album very good but it was a commercial flop (55,000 sold records).
One thing left to say: Patti didn't get her record deal because of her husband. She had signed with Columbia Records around 1982 (so long time before being in the E Street band and before marrying Bruce). When she signed with Columbia, she was signed purely on the strength of her own talent. Arguably, Springsteen's influence in the record business may have helped Patti assemble a top-notch production team for her first album.

In December 2000, Patti debuted a new song called "Rose" at an Asbury Park Convention Hall benefit concert, introducing it as one which will be on her new album. Her new album was released on June 15, 2004. It's named "23rd Street Lullaby" (featured tracks: 1. 23rd Street Lullaby; 2. You Can't Go Back; 3. Rose; 4. City Boys; 5. Love (Stand Up); 6. Yesterday's Child; 7. Stumbling to Bethlehem; 8. Each Other's Medicine; 9. Romeo; 10. State of Grace; 11. Chelsea Avenue; 12. When You're Young in the City).
  

Bruce about Patti in his "Hall of Fame" introduction speech: "Patti Scialfa. She busted the boys' Club, big time. Oh... It went like this 'Okay fellas, there's gonna be a woman in the band. We need someone to sing all the high parts. How complicated can it get?' Well, a nice paparazzi photo of me in my Jockey shorts on a balcony in Rome. 10 of the best years of my life. Evan, Jessie and Sam, three children genealogically linked to the E Street Band tell the rest of the story. Everybody, everybody wants to know how I feel about the band. Hell, I married one of them. Thank you Baby. You hit all the high notes. You're tougher than the rest."

Interviews:
Interview by Polly Coufos (07/ ??/ 2004)

Lyrics of Patti's songs:
Rumble Doll
23rd Street Lullaby
  

Photos of Patti

The cover of Patti's first solo-record

The cover of Patti's Single "Lucky Girl"

The cover of Patti's 2nd solo-album