Everyone knows he was born in the USA, but it was Bruce Springsteen's European immigrant roots — and his family's 110-year American dream — that were celebrated.

Accompanied by his proud mother and aunts — the women who "provided me with place" and "filled my family and all of my work with great meaning" — the rocker from New Jersey received an Ellis Island Family Heritage Award.

"You can't really know who you are and where you're going unless you know where you came from," Springsteen said.

Springsteen's maternal great-grandmother, Raffaela Zerilli, arrived at Ellis Island from Vico Equense, Italy, on Oct. 3, 1900, with five kids in tow.

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