High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Nils Lofgren (born Nils Hilmer Lofgren, June 21, 1951, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American rock music singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Famous as a solo artist, he has marked 25 years as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as well as a former member of Crazy Horse and Grin. Lofgren was born in Chicago in 1951 to Swedish/Italian parents. Moving to the suburban town of Garrett Park, Maryland, on the northern border of Washington, D.C. as a child, Lofgren's first instrument was classical accordion, beginning at age 5, which he studied seriously for ten years. After studying classical music and jazz, throughout his youth, Lofgren switched his emphasis to rock music, and focused on the piano and the guitar. By 1969, Lofgren formed the band Grin, with bassist Bob Gordon, and drummer Bob Berberich, and the group played in the venues throughout the Washington, D.C. area. Lofgren had been a competitive gymnastin high school, a skill that popped up later in his career.