Rick Springfield
Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut single, "Speak to the Sky", which reached the top 10 in Australia in mid-1972. When he moved to the United States, he had a No. 1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He followed with four more top 10 US hits: "I've Done Everything for You", "Don't Talk to Strangers", "Affair of the Heart" and "Love Somebody". Springfield's two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog (1981) and Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982).
Rick Springfield
Australia (1949–present)
United States (2006–present)
- Singer
- musician
- actor
- songwriter
- record producer
1962–present
2
- Vocals
- guitar
- keyboards
As an actor, Springfield starred in the film Hard to Hold in 1984 and the television series High Tide from 1994 to 1997. He appeared in supporting roles in Ricki and the Flash and True Detective (both 2015). He portrayed Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital (1981–83, 2005–08, 2012), returning in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary with his son, actor Liam Springthorpe. He played a depraved version of himself in Californication (2009). In 2010, Springfield published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir. In 2016 he starred as Vince Vincente/Lucifer in season 12 of The CW series Supernatural. In 2012, he starred as himself in the TV show Hot in Cleveland episode 16 of season 3 titled "Everything Goes Better With Vampires". In 2017, he starred as Pastor Charles in the American Horror Story episode entitled "Winter of Our Discontent".
Early life[edit]
Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on 23 August 1949 in Guildford,[1] a western suburb of Sydney.[2][3] He is the son of Eileen Louise (Evennett) and Norman James Springthorpe, an Australian Army career officer.[2][4] His maternal grandparents were English.[5] When he was young, he lived at the army camp with his family in Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. At 14, he saw the Beatles perform at Festival Hall in Melbourne.[6]
Songs referencing Springfield[edit]
In 1985, Jimmy Hart recorded the song "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield", featured on The Wrestling Album.[54][55][56] The premise of the song is that the object of Hart's affection seems to idolise Springfield to the point that Hart feels rivalled by him, prompting Hart to pick up singing as well in order to compete for his girl's affection. The song makes references to "Dr Noah Drake" as well as to "Jessie's Girl". In a 2014 interview, Springfield said that although he had heard the title and was aware of the song's existence and had met with Jimmy Hart in person, he had never actually heard the song.[57]
Jonathan Coulton recorded the song "Je Suis Rick Springfield" about an American man trying to impress a French girl he just met in France by pretending to be Springfield. It was recorded in 2011 and appeared on the album Artificial Heart.[58]
