For all of his accomplishments as an actor, best-selling author and documentary subject, Rick Springfield has always insisted his first love is music, a passion he’s harbored since first picking up the guitar at the age of 12 in his native Australia.
With 25 million albums sold, 17 top-40 hits, including “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, “An Affair of the Heart”, “I've Done Everything for You” “Love Somebody” and “[I]Human Touch[/I],” as well as a 1981 Grammy® for Best Male Rock Vocal win for his No. 1 hit single “Jessie’s Girl” behind him, Springfield has more to say with his latest Universal Music Enterprises release, "Songs for the End of the World", which gets a European release on Frontiers Records.
Before emigrating to the U.S. in the early ’70s, Springfield was an established musical performer in his native Australia. He only took up acting—leading to the role of Dr. Noah Drake on TV’s General Hospital—as a way of making money to support his musical career. His early albums, like 1981’s "Working Class Dog" and the following year’s "Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet", placed him firmly in that era’s jangly pop, New Wave tradition, leading to comparisons with singer-songwriters like Elvis Costello and near-namesake Bruce Springsteen—influences that can be heard on the new album’s punk-rock “Depravity” and the working-class angst of “One Way Street”.
Still playing nearly 100 live shows a year, Springfield’s current musical career renaissance can be traced back to 2004’s Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance and 2008’s UMe bow "Venus in Overdrive", which entered the Billboard sales charts at No. 28, his highest debut in 20 years, with Sony Legacy’s 2005 retrospective "Written in Rock: The Rick Springfield Anthology" sandwiched in between "An Affair of the Heart", a documentary which captured the close ties between Springfield and his fans, came out earlier this year, winning special jury awards at both the Nashville and Florida Film Festivals. He also recently wrote and recorded a new song with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters / Nirvana) along with being a featured guest in Grohl’s new documentary about “Sound City” the fabled San Fernando Valley recording studio.
In addition, Springfield’s 2010 autobiography, "Late, Late at Night: A Memoir", for Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint, entered The New York Times best-seller list at No. 13, hitting the Los Angeles Times and Publishers Weekly lists as well, with Rolling Stone recently naming it one of the top-25 rock autobiographies of all time. In the book Springfield revealed the lifelong depression he’s battled throughout his career, a theme he returns to in such songs as “I Hate Myself” and “Love Screws Me Up”.
In 2016 Rick returns with his 18th studio album, “Rocket Science”, a pop/country blend fused with Springfield’s signature songwriting and performance style, features much of Springfield’s touring band joined by some guest players, and mixed by veteran Justin Niebank, providing the album its tight feel. Other featured players include iconic guitarist and longtime collaborator Tim Pierce, plus longtime songwriting partner, Elton John bass player Matt Bissonette.
"The Snake King" is the brand new album from Rick Springfield and finds Rick traveling down a dusty dirt road exploring the blues.