Early Years:
Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe in Sydney, Australia on August 23, 1949. After a move to England as a youngster, he received his first guitar in his early teens and quickly joined a band. In 1969 Springfield surfaced in a band called Zoot and gained some notoriety in Australia. Hoping to further his music career, the budding singer-songwriter moved to America, only to find an extensive struggle to fulfill his dream of releasing a solo album.
TV Credits, Then Rock & Roll Stardom:
During the '70s Springfield endured his struggle to pursue music full-time by filling in the gaps with television roles on '70s classics like Wonder Woman and Battlestar Galactica. But while readying what would become his debut album, he unwittingly entered the celebrity stratosphere when he accepted the role of Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera General Hospital.
Debut Album for Rick Springfield the Musician:
When Working Class Dog was finally released in 1981 and succeeded wildly, buoyed by the No. 1 smash "Jessie's Girl", Springfield quickly chose music over acting, which had been a backup vocation at most anyway. Over the course of the decade, the photogenic songwriter took some abuse from critics but piled up 17 Top 40 hits and built a fine legacy, proudly holding the flag aloft for high-quality mainstream rock.
