NBA’s New-Look Larry O’Brien Trophy Is Twice as Heavy as Its Predecessor

If it seemed like Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke was struggling to keep the Larry O’Brien Trophy aloft during Monday night’s post-game awards presentation to the newly crowned NBA champions, there’s good reason.

The 24-karat-gold-vermeil-over-silver trophy weighs as much as a three-year-old child.

In 2022, artist Victor Solomon and Tiffany & Co reimagined the trophy, giving it a forward-leaning motif that symbolizes the league “looking ahead to its future.” But while the trophy is just slightly taller than its predecessor (25.5 inches vs 24.5 inches), its weight has nearly doubled, from 15.5 to 30 pounds. (By comparison, the mammoth NHL Stanley Cup stands 35 inches tall and weighs 34.5 pounds).

The new design also features a stylish detail, where the 24-karat gold vermeil has been masked to reveal the underlying sterling silver along the “ribs” of the ball and the rope details of the net.

In addition, the disc-shaped base now has two levels instead of one. The top disc lists the first 75 NBA champions. And starting in 2022 and going forward, the name of the NBA champion team will been etched on the bottom disc. Designer Solomon also added a nearly hidden element — the underside of the trophy features the new NBA Finals logo.

Solomon told The Robb Report in 2022 that his favorite feature of the new Larry O’Brien Trophy is the two-part cylindrical base that honors the past while welcoming the future.

“On the surface of the top layer, we’ve etched all previous championship-winning teams and corresponding years, and the second layer has open real estate to etch the next 25 champions — designed to take us up to the 100th anniversary of the league,” he said.

Tiffany reported that the artisans at its hollowware workshop in Cumberland, RI, require more than 65 hours over six months to complete a single NBA championship trophy. Gold and silversmithing techniques, such as engraving, casting and etching are required to complete each piece.

Trophies are permanently possessed by the championship team and generally displayed in the team’s arena.

Along with the reimagined Larry O’Brien Trophy, which honors the accomplishments of the NBA’s third commissioner, the league revealed five other trophy designs, which are annually presented to the NBA Finals MVP, the two conference champions, as well as the Eastern and Western Conference MVPs.

The NBA’s relationship with Tiffany & Co. spans 46 years, with the luxury house having designed and manufactured the Larry O’Brien Trophy since 1977, the league’s conference championship trophies since 2001 and the Bill Russell Trophy (NBA Finals MVP) since 2005.

Credits: Screen grab of Stan Kroenke lifting the trophy via Youtube.com/NBA. Photo of trophy grouping courtesy of NBA.

Birthstone Feature: Why Color-Change Alexandrite Was Nearly Called Diaphanite

Back in the early 1830s, a renowned Finnish mineralogist named Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld was perplexed by a mineral sample he had received from Count Lev Alekseevich Perovskii, a Russian nobleman and fellow mineralogist.

Sourced in Russia’s Ural Mountains, the curious green gem seemed to be an emerald, but something was not right. Emeralds have a hardness of 7.5 to 8.0 on the Mohs scale, and this Russian gem was rating an 8.5.

Later in the evening, he inspected the same stone under candlelight and was surprised to see that the gem’s color had transitioned from a teal green to a raspberry-red.

The mystery was solved. Nordenskiöld (1792-1865) had stumbled upon a brand new color-change variety of chrysoberyl that was an emerald by day and a ruby by night. But now it needed a name…

The Finn recommended “diaphanite” — from the Greek “di,” meaning two, and “aphanes,” meaning unseen, or “phan,” meaning to appear or show.

But Nordenskiöld’s suggestion would soon be overruled by Count Perovskii (1792-1856), who sought favor with the Russian Imperial Family.

In 1834, the color-change gem with the working title of “diaphanite” would take the official name of “alexandrite” in honor of the 16th birthday of Alexander II, the future Russian tsar.

Today, alexandrite is prized for its unique characteristics, beauty and rarity. It is also one of the official birthstones for the month of June, alongside pearl and moonstone.

The color-change gem wasn’t included on the original modern birthstone list, which was published in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association, now known as Jewelers of America. Alexandrite, along with citrine, tourmaline and zircon, were added in 1952. The list remained untouched until 2002, when tanzanite became an official birthstone for December. In 2016, spinel joined peridot as a birthstone for August.

The color-changing property of alexandrite that allows it to exhibit a raspberry-red color under incandescent light and a teal green color when illuminated by daylight has been attributed to the presence of chromium in the gem’s chemical makeup. The chromium allows the gem to absorb light in the yellow and blue parts of the spectrum.

In addition to Russia, alexandrite has been sourced in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, India and Myanmar.

Credits: Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld image by Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Alexandrite images by User: at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Symbol of Hope: Utah Couple Finds ‘Miracle Ring’ Amidst Ashes of Stolen Trailer

About two weeks ago, a young couple established a GoFundMe page in a desperate attempt to piece their lives back together after the truck and trailer carrying all their belongings were stolen from a hotel parking lot near Denver.

Only a few days earlier, Matthew and Lindsey Fuller, along with their 18-month-old toddler, had opened a new chapter in the lives. The couple made the bold decision to move from Utah to Kansas to pursue some new opportunities.

But, the excitement of a new beginning in Wichita turned into a heart-wrenching nightmare when a Denver-area fire investigator told them that their stolen trailer had been located, but was reduced to ashes. The investigator had been aware of the couple’s plight via local reporting and social media.

“Finding out that it had all been burned. That was hard,” Lindsey told Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL-TV.

But despite the horrific news, Lindsey still held onto a glimmer of hope.

“Maybe my rings hadn’t melted,” she said. “Maybe some of the books didn’t get burned.”

When the couple arrived at the impound station, they saw their trailer burned beyond recognition. A pile of charred rubble.

“Just ash, basically,” Matthew said.

Undaunted, the couple dove into the mess to see what they could salvage.

Within four minutes, Lindsey’s engagement ring emerged from the ashes, a little scorched, but otherwise intact.

“We had been praying we would find it, and finding it within four minutes of getting there, it just felt like a miracle,” Lindsey said. “There really aren’t words for the relief we felt finding that.”

The Fullers call it the “miracle ring” because this was not the first time the ring, or its valuable center stone, had been lost. Previously, the oval-shaped diamond had fallen out at a beach, but was recovered.

“We thought even if we find nothing else, this ring is so precious to us,” Lindsey added.

Despite the tragedy, the ring symbolizes the perseverance that will carry this young family into the future.

“We’re going to try to keep [it] by our side as long as we live,” Matthew said. “Although we lost everything, we have the thing that really started our relationship still with us.”

The family’s recovery efforts got off to a great start. A GoFundMe goal of $30,000 already has been surpassed by nearly $3,000. The Fullers told KSL-TV that they are extremely grateful to friends, neighbors and complete strangers who have helped them in their moment of total loss.

You can see KSL-TV’s full report here.

Credits: Screen grabs via http://www.ksl.com.

Music Friday Flashback: Tony Burrows Asks His ‘Beach Baby’ to Wear His Ring

Welcome to Music Friday Flashback when we revisit our favorite oldies with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today’s featured song is “Beach Baby,” a popular 1974 singalong by the British one-hit wonder called The First Class.

Lead singer Tony Burrows channels Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys in this song about summer romance and a promise ring on the beaches of California.

He sings, “We couldn’t wait for graduation day (oh oh, no) / We took the car and drove to San Jose (oh oh oh) / That’s where you told me that you’d wear my ring / I guess you don’t remember anything.”

What’s fascinating about “Beach Baby” is that is was written and performed by UK natives. John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, composed the song in their home in East Sheen, South West London. Despite being 5,400 miles from “old L.A., when everybody drove a Chevrolet,” the writing team perfectly captured the vibe of the surf music popularized by The Beach Boys 10 years earlier.

Once they had their song completed, husband-and-wife team hired session singers Burrows and Chas Mills to record the track as The First Class.

While the band may still suffer from the tag of “one-hit wonder,” Burrows amassed an impressive resume. He was the voice behind a number of other hits, including Edison Lighthouse’s “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” and Brotherhood of Man’s “United We Stand.” Burrows is still performing at the age of 81.

Often mistaken as a Beach Boys standard, “Beach Baby” became a summertime favorite on both sides of the pond. In 1974, it zoomed to #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, settled at #13 on the UK charts and ascended all the way to #1 in Canada.

With summer just around the corner, let’s turn up the volume on “Beach Baby.” The video, below, features a live performance by The First Class, with Burrows singing lead vocals. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Beach Baby”
Written by Gillian Shakespeare and John Carter. Performed by The First Class.

Do you remember back in old L.A.? (oh oh oh)
When everybody drove a Chevrolet (oh oh oh)
Whatever happened to the boy next door
The sun-tanned crew-cut all-American male?

Remember dancing at the high school hop? (oh oh oh)
The dress I ruined with the soda pop (oh oh oh)
I didn’t recognize the girl next-door
The beat up sneakers and the pony tail

Beach baby, beach baby, give me your hand
Give me something that I can remember
Just like before, we can walk by the shore in the moonlight

Beach baby, beach baby, there on the sand
From July to the end of September
Surfin’ was fun, we’d be out in the sun every day

Mmm, I never thought that it would end (ooh ooh)
Mmm, and I was everybody’s friend (ooh ooh)
Long, hot days
Blue sea haze
Jukebox plays
But now it’s fading away

We couldn’t wait for graduation day (oh oh, no)
We took the car and drove to San Jose (oh oh oh)
That’s where you told me that you’d wear my ring
I guess you don’t remember anything

Beach baby, beach baby, give me your hand (give me your hand)
Give me somethin’ that I can remember (give me something to remember)
Just like before we can walk by the shore in the moonlight

Beach baby, beach baby, there on the sand (there on the sand)
From July to the end of September (from July to September)
Surfin’ was fun, we’d be out in the sun every day

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Two Off-the-Charts Gemstones Guarantee a Wild Ride at Sotheby’s NY Today

Jewelry aficionados are expecting a wild ride today at Sotheby’s New York, where two off-the-charts gemstones headline its Magnificent Jewels auction, starting at 10 a.m. EDT.

All eyes will be on Estrela de FURA (Lot 59) and The Eternal Pink (Lot 62). The first is a ruby that has been described as a “once-in-a-century” gem, and the second is a pink diamond that’s “in a stratosphere of its own,” according to the auction house.

Although Sotheby’s didn’t set a pre-auction estimate for Estrela de FURA, jewelry insiders believe the cushion-cut, 55.22-carat gem has a chance to break two auction records that have stood since 2015: The largest sum ever paid for a ruby and the highest price-per-carat ever paid for a ruby.

The records are currently held by the 25.59-carat, cushion-cut Sunrise Ruby, which fetched $30.3 million, or $1.18 million per carat at Sotheby’s Geneva. Experts believe the Estrela de FURA — the largest gem-quality ruby to ever appear at auction — should be able to snatch the first record, but may be hard pressed to capture the second.

Estrela de Fura was cut from a 101-carat rough stone discovered in Mozambique by Fura Gems in September of 2022. At the time, Fura touted the stone as an exceptional treasure of nature for its fluorescence, outstanding clarity and vivid red hue, known as “pigeon’s blood” — a color traditionally associated only with Burmese rubies.

Three lots later, bids for the 10.57-carat Eternal Pink are expected to eclipse $35 million.

Sourced at De Beers’ Damtshaa mine in Botswana in 2019, the 23.78-carat rough diamond that yielded The Eternal Pink was fashioned into an exquisite cushion cut by a team of artisans at Diacore. The cutters worked on the stone for “six intense months” in an effort to bring out the diamond’s electric “bubblegum” color.

The Eternal Pink is rated internally flawless with a color grade of “Fancy Vivid,” the highest possible for a colored diamond. Sotheby’s claims The Eternal Pink is the most vivid purplish-pink diamond ever to come to market.

“This color is the most beautiful and concentrated shade of pink in diamonds that I have ever seen,” commented Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s head of jewelry for the Americas.

The Eternal Pink will be vying for the price-per-carat record currently held by the 11.15-carat “Williamson Pink Star,” which earned $57.7 million, or $5.2 million per-carat, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2022. That selling price was more than 2.5 times the auction house’s pre-sale high estimate of $21 million.

The “CTF Pink Star” still holds the record for any gem sold at auction. The 59.6-carat pink diamond sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for $71.2 million in 2017.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Jewelry Industry Mourns Passing of Master Diamond Cutter Gabi Tolkowsky

The jewelry industry is mourning the passing of Sir Gabriel (Gabi) Tolkowsky, one of the most accomplished diamond cutters of all time. He was 84.

Most famous for cutting the Centenary Diamond from a 599-carat rough stone, Tolkowsky dedicated his life to releasing the beauty inherent in each precious stone he encountered.

The Tel Aviv-born Tolkowsky represented the sixth generation of master diamond cutters, which included his great uncle Marcel Tolkowsky, the inventor of the ideal-cut round brilliant diamond.

In July of 1986, the De Beers Group called Tolkowsky to its London headquarters to assess and appraise the 599-carat rough gem it had just recovered from South Africa’s Premier Mine.

Tolkowsky said the diamond instantly changed his life.

“When I took it in my hands, it married my hand,” he recounted in a 1999 documentary by EMS Productions. “It was part of myself… it gave me so many thoughts that I changed as a person.”

“I was always occupied with all sorts of diamonds, but this one,” he said, gesturing as if the stone was in his clenched fist, “it changed me, because in one shot I became part of it and it became part of me.”

At the time, Tolkowsky didn’t know that he would be called on a year later to take on the task of cutting the stone.

“When asked to cut it, I fell into my shoes,” he said.

The process of cutting the Centenary Diamond became a three-year labor of love.

The first phase — to remove by hand 20 carats of surface flaws — took an excruciating 154 days. After that was accomplished, Tolkowsky submitted 13 sketches of possible cuts to the De Beers board. Eventually, they agreed on a modified heart shape.

According to an account by leibish.com, the cutting and polishing of the Centenary Diamond took place in a specially designed underground room at the De Beers Diamond Research Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa. De Beers ensured that the room was insulated from mechanical vibration and temperature variation, to minimize any influences that might interfere with the cutting of the stone.

When Tolkowsky’s work was done, the stone weighed 273.85 carats, with a D color. It was rated both internally and externally flawless, with a total of 247 facets. According to leibish.com, the Centenary Diamond is the largest modern fancy cut diamond in the world, and the only one to combine old cutting methods with sophisticated, modern cutting technology.

Unveiled in 1991, it was later displayed at the Tower of London, according to debeers.com.

Among Tolkowsky’s other high-profile accomplishments was the cutting of the Golden Jubilee Diamond, a 545-carat brilliant cushion-cut diamond, which the master cutter expertly crafted from a 755-carat rough gem. The polished gem presents 148 facets and displays a yellow-brown hue.

In 2002, Tolkowsky was knighted by the Belgian government for his contribution to the diamond industry.

Credit: Screen grab of Gabriel Tolkowsky via Youtube.com/EMS FILMS Ton Okkerse. Centenary Diamond courtesy of The De Beers Group.

Find Out How the Hope Pearl and Hope Diamond Reunited After 156 Years Apart

Let’s celebrate June’s official birthstone with a deep dive into the backstory of one of the most celebrated natural pearls in the world — the Hope Pearl — and its famous sibling, the Hope Diamond.

How these two museum-quality pieces were reunited after 156 years apart is a heartwarming and intriguing tale. Read on…

Back in the early part of the 19th century, a London banker named Henry Philip Hope amassed a collection of fabulous gems, including the deep blue 45.52-carat Hope Diamond and 150 extraordinarily rare natural pearls.

Hope’s namesake pearl, which was once believed to be the largest natural saltwater baroque pearl in existence, is set as a pendant, with the narrower end capped with a crown of red enameled gold set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The pearl stands two inches tall and weighs 450 carats.

It exhibits an irregular pear shape and a unique coloration, grading from dark bronze to white. Experts believe the baroque specimen is a blister pearl, which grows attached to the mollusk’s shell.

Both the Hope Diamond (purchased in 1824) and Hope Pearl (purchased between 1800 and 1810) were mentioned prominently in the 1839 publication titled “Catalogue of the Collection of Pearls and Precious Stones Formed by Henry Philip Hope, Esq.”

Hope, who never married, died that same year at the age of 65.

A bitter legal battle ensued among his three nephews. Each of them made claims on the estate, and after 10 years, a settlement was reached and the jewels were split up. The pearl ended up in the South Kensington Museum for many years, and was sold at a Christie’s auction in 1886 for £9,000 (about £950,000, or $1.18 million, in today’s valuation).

The Hope Diamond and Hope Pearl remained apart for the next 156 years. But then, in 2005, the diamond and pearl siblings enjoyed a momentous six-month reunion at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. The Hope Diamond was already a resident of the National Gem and Mineral collection at the National Museum of Natural History.

The Hope Pearl was one of 12 extraordinary specimens featured in a special exhibition called “The Allure of Pearls” in the Harry Winston Gallery of the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. The Hope Pearl was loaned for the presentation by an unnamed collector from England.

Other specimens in the exhibition included La Peregrina, the Pearl of Asia, the Drexel Pearl, the Black Beauty, the Pearl of Kuwait, the Queen Mary Brooch with two large natural pink conch pearls, the South Sea Drops, the Survival Pearl and the Paspaley Pearl.

A natural pearl is extraordinarily rare and valuable because it is formed inside a mollusk totally by chance, without human intervention. A natural pearl forms when an irritant, such as a grain of sand, slips between the mollusk’s shell and its mantle tissue.

To protect itself from the irritant, the mollusk secretes layer upon layer of nacre, which is the iridescent material that eventually produces a pearl. Cultured pearls, by comparison, are grown under controlled conditions, where a bead is implanted in the body of the mollusk to stimulate the secretion of nacre.

Pearl is one of the three official birthstones for June. The others are alexandrite and moonstone.

Credits: Smithsonian/NMNH Photo Services.

Did the Subs Scanning Titanic Wreckage Spot a Megalodon-Tooth Necklace?

Employing a pair of submersibles named Romeo and Juliet, the Guernsey-based Magellan company took six weeks to complete the largest underwater scan in history. In the end, the high-tech firm had compiled 700,000 high-resolution images in an effort to map every millimeter of the wreck site of the ill-fated Titanic.

Magellan stitched together the images to deliver an incredibly detailed, 3D look at the 882-foot luxury liner from every angle. Its cameras were able to see minute details, from the serial number on one of the ship’s propellers, to a unique piece of jewelry lost by a distinguished passenger on April 14, 1912 — the night the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg while on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York.

At a depth of 12,500 feet, the submersibles were able to spot a turquoise and gold shark tooth necklace lying on the ocean floor in a field of white circular ornaments, possibly ivory hoops or carved beads.

But, this is not an average shark tooth necklace, according to breathless accounts infiltrating the Internet, but the tooth of a prehistoric megalodon. Really?

The extinct shark existed millions of years ago and grew to 65 feet in length, the size of one and a half school buses. It was at the top of the food chain with a bite force of between 108,514 and 182,201 Newtons. That’s nearly 10 times the crunching power of a great white shark.

It also flashed enormous teeth. In fact, the name of the species is derived from the Greek, meaning “big tooth.”

The problem with the premise that the scan revealed a megalodon-tooth necklace is that the giant shark’s tooth measures about 7 inches from point to base — not exactly the size a jeweler would deem fit for a fashionable gold pendant. No, we’re pretty sure the jewelry is set with a conventional shark tooth.

Even so, the Magellan team is reportedly using artificial intelligence to scan footage of passengers boarding the ship to see if anyone was wearing a shark-tooth necklace during the voyage. From there, they might be able to track down the ancestors of that person and potentially reunite them with the jewelry.

As for now, the Magellan team may not collect any artifacts on the ocean floor due to restrictions placed by the US and British governments.

Of the 2,240 passengers and crew on the Titanic, more than 1,500 lost their lives in the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The ship sank in two parts and the debris field spreads over three miles between the bow and stern.

Credits: Titanic screen captures via Magellan. Megalodon tooth photo by Fakirbakir, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Actress Bella Thorne Shows Off Her 10-Carat Emerald-Cut Engagement Ring

Former Disney star Bella Thorne took to Instagram on Friday to announce her engagement to TV producer Mark Emms and to show off what is estimated to be a 10-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring.

Thorne posted a series of romantic photos along with the simple caption, “my love.” In the first photo, Thorne’s 25.2 million followers got to see a close-up of the ring, which highlights a large center stone flanked by tapered baguettes.

Emms — who is best known as the producer of the Netflix series, Bad Vegan, and the co-owner of The Mulberry, a trendy bar in New York’s SoHo district — popped the question on May 13 at Thorne’s home in California, according to Vogue. The publication reported that after the proposal, Thorne and Emms celebrated the momentous event with family.

Vogue noted that the couple met last August at model Cara Delevingne’s birthday party in Ibiza, Spain.

“It was love at first sight as the sun rose,” she told the publication.

The actress is already working on the arrangements for a countryside wedding in the UK, where Emms resides and works. She also told Vogue that she plans to make a number of wardrobe changes on her special day.

“Every bride does not need one gown, but four!” she exclaimed.

Thorne’s latest engagement comes nearly a year after the actress split from her former fiancé, Benjamin Mascolo, in June of 2022. Thorne and the Italian singer were engaged in March of 2021.

Less than a month after accepting a 4-carat, pear-shaped diamond engagement ring from the Mascolo, Thorne reciprocated the loving gesture by giving her then-fiancé a diamond engagement ring of his own — a diamond-studded, openwork gold ring.

Might Emms have an engagement ring in his future? Stay tuned.

Credits: Instagram.com/Bellathorne.

Music Friday: Bruce Springsteen’s Got Diamonds and Gold, But He ‘Ain’t Got You’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Bruce Springsteen returns to our blog with his bling-embellished, 1950s-inspired ditty, “Ain’t Got You.”

In the song, The Boss details all the treasures he’s amassed, including “the fortunes of heaven in diamonds and gold,” but admits that his life is not complete because he “ain’t got you.”

“Ain’t Got You,” was the opening track to Springsteen’s introspective, autobiographical 1987 album Tunnel of Love. Unlike his previous album, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love opened a window into Springsteen’s personal life, especially his troubled marriage to actress Julianne Phillips.

Interestingly, the simple “money can’t buy me love” song set off a tiff between Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt, a founding member of Springsteen’s E Street Band, according to a 2012 article in The New Yorker. Van Zandt didn’t think it was appropriate for Springsteen to write a song about his personal wealth.

“I’m, like, ‘What… is this?’” Van Zandt told The New Yorker. “And he’s, like, ‘Well, what do you mean? It’s the truth. It’s just who I am. It’s my life.’”

Van Zandt responded, “People don’t need you talking about your life… They need you for their lives. That‘s your thing. Giving some logic and reason and sympathy and passion to this cold, fragmented, confusing world – that’s your gift. Explaining their lives to them. Their lives, not yours.”

Despite Van Zandt’s objections, the song — which runs just 2:08 and was recorded by Springsteen alone in his home studio — landed as the first track on Tunnel of Love. The album would go on to sell more than three million copies and top the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.

BTW, Springsteen did eventually find his true love. He’s been married to fellow musician Patti Scialfa since 1991 and they share three kids. 

Born in 1949, Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was inspired to pursue a music career after watching the Beatles’ perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The 15-year-old Springsteen bought his first guitar for $18.95 at a Western Auto Appliance store.

He played small venues with a number of bands throughout the late ’60s and then caught the attention of a Columbia Records talent scout in 1972. Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., was released in October of that same year.

Springsteen has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. He’s earned 20 Grammy Awards (out of 50 nominations), two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award for Springsteen on Broadway. In 1999, he was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We hope you enjoy the audio clip of Springsteen’s performance of “Ain’t Got You.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Ain’t Got You”
Written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.

I got the fortunes of heaven in diamonds and gold
I got all the bonds baby that the bank could hold
I got houses ‘cross the country honey end to end
And everybody buddy wants to be my friend
Well I got all the riches baby any man ever knew
But the only thing I ain’t got honey, I ain’t got you

I got a house full of Rembrandt and priceless art
And all the little girls they wanna tear me apart
When I walk down the street people stop and stare
Well you’d think I might be thrilled but baby I don’t care
‘Cause I got more good luck honey than old King Farouk
But the only thing I ain’t got baby, I ain’t got you

I got a big diamond watch sittin’ on my wrist
I try to tempt you baby but you just resist
I made a deal with de devil babe I won’t deny
Until I got you in my arms I can’t be satisfied

I got a pound of caviar sitting home on ice
I got a fancy foreign car that rides like paradise
I got a hundred pretty women knockin’ down my door
And folks wanna kiss me I ain’t even seen before
I been around the world and all across the seven seas
Been paid a king’s ransom for doin’ what comes naturally
But I’m still the biggest fool honey this world ever knew
‘Cause the only thing I ain’t got baby, I ain’t got you

Credit: Image by Gorup de Besanez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.