Springsteen pays tribute to late keyboard player

Bruce Springsteen and the 'E Street Band' paid a touching tribute to late keyboard player Danny Federici in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday night by shining a light on the pianist's vacant stool.

The band resumed its tour after scrapping two Florida dates following the death of Federici last week, and opened the Tampa show with the keyboard player's favourite tune, 'Backstreets'.

As the band performed, a lone spotlight shone on Federici's keyboards.

Prior to the song, Springsteen and his bandmates took the stage in the dark as a video montage of Federici played on a giant screen above them - with the soundtrack of 'E Street Band' anthem 'Blood Brothers'.

And there was a further tribute when Springsteen joked about getting another Federici favourite, Sandy right later on in the set.

The rocker told fans: "We better get this right. Somebody's watching."

Federici, 58, died after a long battle with cancer, which forced him to quit the E Street Band in November. He briefly rejoined the band in Indiana on March 20 when he performed eight songs with his former bandmates.