Rick Springfield

by

Summerfest

Don’t call it a comeback, because the 75-year-old rocker never really went away.

The “Jessie’s Girl” guy consistently has released albums since his U.S. breakthrough in 1981—to decreasing commercial success but steady critical acclaim. That includes 2023’s Automatic, a 20-song set that stylistically reflects some of Springfield’s most commercially successful work in the Eighties but with nods to his more contemporary, post-2000 power-pop output. Earlier this year, Big Hits: Greatest Hits Volume Two, arrived featuring 24 cuts from albums released between 1999 and 2023.

Nevertheless, Springfield always will be synonymous with the decade of excess, and recent setlists burst with hits like “Affair of the Heart,” “Love is Alright Tonite,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “Love Somebody,” “Human Touch” and, of course, “Jessie’s Girl.” He also hosts a weekly themed show on Sirius XM Radio’s “‘80s on 8” channel, “Working Class DJ” (a clever take on 1981’s Working Class Dog), during which he plays deep cuts and lets loose with charm and snark.

Not bad for a guy who recently admitted he’s still recovering from a serious fall he took during a performance in Las Vegas 25 years ago. “I fell 25 feet, hit my head and then wood came down and hit my head, and then my head hit the stage again,” he told People in March. “I found out I have some brain damage from the fall, so I’m working on trying to repair that.”