Springsteen Signs 5th Grader's School Absence Note, But Dad Keeps the Original

— -- One fifth grader got out of school yesterday like a boss. But that’s because “The Boss” himself, Bruce Springsteen, signed his absence note.

The 10-year-old student, Michael Fenerty, attended Springsteen’s book signing with his father, Mike, at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Thursday. Since they were already getting Springsteen's signature on his new autobiography, "Born To Run," why not ask the singer to sign Michael's excuse note for school?

“I’m a longtime Springsteen fan. I’ve been to 160-something shows,” the boy’s dad, Mike Fenerty, told ABC News. “My son’s grown up with it and he’s always wanted to go. I took him to a concert in September and he loved it. He loved the show and then soon thereafter they announced this book signing and I was able to get a couple tickets and Michael wanted to go.”

Michael just got accepted into a new school so his dad wasn’t sure of the proper protocol for letting school officials know that his son would miss class.

“[Michael] said, ‘You should call in the morning to let them know,’ and I need to bring in a signed note saying why I was out,” Mike recalled. “He looked at me and said, ‘We should get Springsteen to sign the note’ and then we laughed and walked to the computer and typed up this letter and the next morning we got in line with the pen.”

As soon as Springsteen saw the young boy, “he just lit up,” Mike said.

“He high-fived him and gave him hugs and talked to him for a second and they took a photo,” the proud dad said. “Michael took advantage of that moment to get the letter and pen out of his pocket and announced loudly, ‘Bruce would you sign my absence note?’ He said, ‘Sure, I’ll sign it!’ but he said he had to read it because that’s how he got in trouble with his first contract. He signed the note and we left and it was awesome.”

The book signing was only two blocks from Michael’s school, but the father-son duo made sure to make a Xeroxed copy of the note rather than give away the cherished original.

Mike said when the principal received the photocopy, she jokingly told him that his son would only be excused if she had the original document.

Without missing a beat, the hardcore Springsteen fan replied, “Hey, everybody has to have their first detention sometime.”