BORN TO RON

Rock icon Bruce Springsteen (whose new Western Stars set drops on 6/14) recently dropped by the offices of Columbia Records, during which time Sony Music boss Rob Stringer, Columbia Chairman Ron Perry, label players Jen Mallory, Greg Linn and Jim Burruss, and everyone else within a five-mile radius scrambled to get in the photo. Later, Perry expressed his admiration for Springsteen's nuanced, humane portraits of working-class resilience and struggle and then asked if he had any cowboy-trap songs.

Photo: Eric Lagg