The New Jersey rocker was on hand to promote "The Ties That Bind: The River Collection", a newly-issued 7-disc box set marking the 35th anniversary of the 1980 double-album. "The River" earned Springsteen his first No. 1 US album and helped expand his audience with the success of singles like "Hungry Heart."

"This was the record where women started coming to the show," Springsteen told Fallon. "Previously we played to a lot of young men, due to the homosexual undercurrents in my music. But we had a hit record, and when we have a hit record, that means it's date night - Women listen to Top 40 radio, that's what my daughter does - and so finally people came, brought their dates, girls came, it was a much nicer scene for us."