Bruce Springsteen guitarist Steven Van Zandt jokes the key to his 40-year marriage to wife Maureen is ‘staying apart’: ‘You go home and it’s always new again’

Steven Van Zandt and his wife Maureen are celebrating their 42nd wedding anniversary on New Year’s Eve. Now he reveals the key to their long marriage.

The 73-year-old guitarist and longtime member of Bruce Springsteen’s iconic E-Street Band and his 72-year-old wife reveal their lives in an upcoming HBO documentary titled Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple.

The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June and debuted on the streaming service Max late last month.

While promoting the film in a new interview with PeopleVan Zandt was asked what the key to the sustainability of his marriage was… which he revealed: divorce.

“As I often say, the key to staying together is staying apart. We’ve been together, God, what is it now, 40 years and probably spent about 10 years of that together out of 40, because I’m always on the road,” he admitted.

The 73-year-old guitarist and longtime member of Bruce Springsteen’s iconic E-Street Band and his 72-year-old wife reveal their lives in an upcoming HBO documentary titled Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple.

While promoting the film in a new interview with People, Van Zandt was asked what the key to the durability of his marriage was… which he revealed was a divorce

“So you go home and it’s always new,” he added, admitting that his wife has more than enough to keep her busy while he’s away.

“I think there’s something about keeping your own identity. She’s a very, very strong person. She has a theater company. She’s the real actor in the family,” he admitted.

“She’s the real deal. In addition to her literary knowledge, she teaches acting at the American Ballet Theater. She was a ballet dancer,” Van Zandt added.

The musician adds: “I think it’s important to find a way to maintain your identity and make sure that one plus one equals three, instead of one plus one and a half.”

He added that you see this latter formula ‘increasingly in relationships, where people lose and compromise their identity just to get along with each other.’

Van Zandt admitted that neither of them are very good at compromising, but after forty years they have found a way to make it work.

“I think with some boundaries, if you want, the other person can have their own strong identity and we can come together and find common ground. We have both. That’s the key,” he admits.

The upcoming documentary shows the couple’s private life, something director Bill Teck was keen to portray.

“So you go home and it’s always new,” he added, admitting that his wife has more than enough to keep her busy while he’s away.

“I think there’s something about keeping your own identity. She’s a very, very strong person. She has a theater company. She’s the real actor in the family,” he admitted.

“She’s the real deal. In addition to her literary knowledge, she teaches acting at the American Ballet Theater. She was a ballet dancer,” Van Zandt added

“I just wanted to reflect their love. I always get touched when Stevie sings the song to Maureen at the end,” Teck revealed

“I just wanted to reflect their love. I’m always touched when Stevie sings the song to Maureen at the end,” Teck revealed.

“It’s inspiring to me as a man and as a person in a relationship, as a human being, I have to say, and as a person in a relationship. The devotion and the love and how present those two are for each other, how protective they are of each other,” he added.

“I felt very honored and moved that we were able to make this happen,” Teck continued.

Van Zandt admitted in the documentary that he was “crazy” about her when they first met, but it took a year before he could convince her to go out with him.