Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on August 23, 1949. He grew up in various locations, spending most of his childhood in Melbourne, Australia. An army brat (his father was a colonel in the Australian Army), Rick found that he was often the new kid in town. His teen years landed him in England, just in time for, as he recalls, "girls and music". Returning back to Australia, Rick eventually dropped out of high school to pursue his music. His first band, Rock House, landed a gig in Vietnam during the height of the conflict there, and Rick found himself dodging bombs and throwing granades. While the band didn't last long, this lead him to the wildly popular Australian teen band, Zoot. In Zoot, Rick honed his songwriting and performance tactics, so much so that he was plucked out of the group to try his hand at solo music.

By 1971, Rick had top hit in Australia, "Speak to the Sky". Record companies in the US were courting him. It left Rick with some difficult personal decisions: leave his homeland for the unknown of the US? His father, with whom he credits his passion for music, had recently suffered a debilitating stroke, and needed a great deal of care. Though Rick hesitated to leave him, Rick finally made the decision to try his luck in Hollywood.

Steve Binder and Robie Porter helped produce Rick's first US album, "Beginnings", which included a re-recorded version of "Speak to the Sky". Seeming success was quick quick for the newly named Rick Springfield: "Speak to the Sky" landed in the US Top Ten and "Beginnings" found it's way into the top twenty. Unfortunately, most of Rick's press was coming from teen magazines, who were selling him right along with David Cassidy and Donny Osmond. The radio stations suspected foul play: a teen sensation who had no real following. They refused to play the song and it quickly dropped off the charts.

Binder and Porter were not deterred by this, though Rick calls this time "a real heavy time." They signed Rick to a new deal at Columbia Records, and soon Rick released his second stateside album, "Comic Book Heroes". Recorded in London, this album tried to fight the critics with serious songs such as "The Photograph". Unfortunately, with most of his publicity again coming from the teen mags, the album was never taken seriously by radio. Again Rick was left without a record deal.

In 1974, Rick was asked to create music and star in an animated series called "Mission Magic". Rick was excited about the idea of showcasing his songs on a weekly TV show. The show aired on ABC's Saturday mornning line up. While Rick still continued to record and write serious music of his own (much of which ended up on the never released "Springfield" LP of 1974), most of the music from Mission Magic was neccesarily fluff. The show was cancelled after the second season.

Personally for Rick, a bright spot during 1974 was his live in relationship with Linda Blair ("The Exorcist"). Rick calls it his first "grown up relationship," though at the time Linda Blair was only fifteen. The relationship lasted a year, and both still recall the time fondly. "He's someone I'll always love," said Linda in VH-1's Behind the Music. Rick says that of all his former girlfriends, Linda is the only one he remains friends with.

By 1975, Rick was in "the worst time of my life," he says. He had no job and no prospects. He'd had two record deals that had fallen through. He had records that released and did poorly, he had records that never had been released. Despite fan letters that asked to see his mansion in Hollywood, Rick was scraping by on almost nothing. He felt like a failure. The depression that had haunted him since fifteen reared it's head again and Rick had thoughts of suicide.

Eventually, he dropped Binder and Porter and decided to strike out on his own. He began acting classes to support his music career. "Most guys were out there waiting tables while they waited for acting jobs. I was acting while I was waiting for a music job." He recorded his 1976 album, "Wait for Night" during this time. While the album was strong musically, recorded with Elton John's rhythm section of Nigel Olson and Dee Murray, the Chelsea label it was recorded on folded soon after the album's release.

Rick spent the next few years earning acting paychecks and writing tunes for the next album. He had a new management team which included Tom Skeeter, and they were determined to land their artist a deal. In 1980 he recorded "Working Class Dog" on a shoestring budget, recording on off hours when the studio time was cheaper. It was there that he met his future wife, Barbara Porter. She was working as a receptionist there at the time, and later people would jokingly ask her if she indeed was "Jessie's Girl." "She had a lot of energy," recalls drummer Jack White of that time.

Though his managers were negotiating a deal with RCA to release "Working Class Dog," Rick auditioned for the soap opera, "General Hospital." He was used to album deals folding, or records not doing well, and the steady paycheck of the soap was enticing. He signed to the soap as Dr. Noah Drake in early 1981, and RCA released his album very shortly after.

Almost overnight, Rick's star shone brightly: his album was being played on the radio, he was recognized from his work on TV, and Rick was suddenly famous. Rick was ready. He'd waited for ten years for this moment, and he was excited to see the faces turn when he walked by. "It was so fast," he recalls, "Just a few weeks." The soap opera made Rick's face recognizable to millions, the radio made his music so.

"I've heard that sometimes, especially from others who have experienced fame, that when what you want most is given to you, inevitably something else is taken away," Rick said on TNN's "Life and Times of Rick Springfield." Within a few months of fulfilling his dreams of success, Rick's father took a turn for the worse and passed away. For Rick, it was a cruel blow. He always felt that his father was his champion, giving him the support he needed to get through the tough times and stick to his goal of being a successful musician. His father would be right there along with him with every success and failure. The pain struck Rick deeply, though he didn't have time to indulge in his grief; with only a three day hiatus from General Hospital to fly to Australia for the funeral, Rick threw himself into making his success last. Rick can still be seen in interviews today, eighteen years later, getting choked up and shedding tears when his father is brought up. "It hits me where I live," he has said. "I still have a lot of pain about it." The musical thread his father gave him continues to be seen in his music...references to his father can be found on every album he made after his father's death.