Rick Springfield Talks Dream Jessie's Girl Cover & Unruly Concert Fans _ E! News
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:12 The smash hit "Jesse's Girl" made him an instant music icon and a Grammy winner.
00:18 His new album "Automatic" drops August 4th.
00:21 Please welcome the one and only Rick Springfield here.
00:25 Legends.
00:26 Thank you.
00:27 Come on.
00:28 Watching that video, knowing that that was four decades ago,
00:32 did you know at that moment that that song was going to be as famous as it was?
00:37 No, I didn't actually.
00:38 I was surprised that they picked that as a single.
00:42 I thought there were better songs on the album, but I'll show you what I know.
00:45 But once you write a song and it becomes a hit, then it's up to the gods what becomes of it after that.
00:53 It's going on to have a life of its own, which is amazing,
00:56 but I don't know how much that has to do with me.
00:59 It's been in movies, and it just seems to have kept going.
01:04 And kids know it.
01:05 I mean, I see eight-, nine-year-old kids in the audience singing the verses.
01:11 I mean, I sometimes look and go, "Wow."
01:14 We're seeing all these retro songs have comebacks because new artists are covering them.
01:20 Is there an artist today that you would love to cover "Jesse's Girl"?
01:24 I love Lewis Capaldi, amazing voice.
01:29 He's really my favorite of the new artists.
01:33 I'm going to send this to Lewis Capaldi, and we're going to get him to do this cover,
01:36 and you're going to thank me when you get another Grammy for this song.
01:40 Now, speaking of music, we have seen fans throwing phones and objects at performers on stage.
01:47 I'm sure you've had to duck and dodge a few bras or something in your life.
01:51 Yeah, definitely.
01:54 We used to have a huge collection of bras and underwear, but I grew up in Australia playing the pubs,
02:01 so I've had beer cans thrown at me, full beer cans.
02:07 We learned to play the guitar two ways in Australia, this way and this way, with a good, solid club,
02:13 because there were no bouncers or anything back then in the late '60s, early '70s.
02:18 Just the fight would happen until they both exhausted themselves.
02:21 And that was it.
02:22 Yeah, so you had a mic stand or a guitar always there to protect you.
02:28 Aussie pubs are an interesting upbringing.
02:31 Now, I've got to say, you've done something in Hollywood that's almost impossible.
02:36 You have been married to your wife for 40 years.
02:40 Oh, there she is.
02:41 Now, Rick, I don't know.
02:43 I'm a rock star. I'm 6'1". I'm a good-looking guy with a head of hair like that.
02:48 I am not getting married. I'm going to play this field, and I'm going to do it.
02:52 Did you ever feel like you were missing out on that rock star life?
02:55 I've been a musician since I was 15, so I've certainly been through that, and certainly when success first hit.
03:03 It was a very heady thing.
03:05 I mean, I'm walking down the street one day, and nobody's looking at me,
03:09 and then two weeks later, people are going, "Is that the guy on--"
03:14 So it's a difficult thing to first deal with, and I succumbed to it.
03:23 I'm the weak side, like every human being.
03:27 For sure.
03:28 And that was part of the deal, battle with my wife--or she was my girlfriend then.
03:33 And we used to break up a lot because of all that kind of thing.
03:36 We started dating just as things happened, and so it was a very tumultuous time for us.
03:42 She's the most amazing person in the world, and I'm very lucky that she didn't ditch me.
03:46 Now, your new album, "Automatic," drops next Friday.
03:50 What can fans expect? Is it classic Rick? Is this a new side of you? What are we getting?
03:55 I don't know. I'm the last one to kind of know what--
03:59 As a writer, you write stuff, and maybe a year later, you look at it and go, "Oh, that's what I meant."
04:06 There's a lot in there. I say God, love, sex, and death are my favorite things to write about,
04:11 and that's what the album's about.
04:13 I love that. Now, in addition to your new album, you're also hitting the road.
04:17 You're going to take the stage for "I Want My 80s Summer Tour."
04:21 Are you ready for that? What's going down?
04:23 Yeah, yeah. I have an amazing band, actually.
04:26 We love each other, and we kill it on stage, and that energy shows,
04:33 and I think people get that, the audience gets that, and then we feed off their energy.
04:38 It's a cyclical thing, and we're going out with some great people.
04:41 The Hooters haven't toured America for quite a while.
04:45 Paul Young, I was a big fan of when his first record came out.
04:48 Love his voice. Tommy Tutone, we've kind of put under our wing and take him with us everywhere.
04:55 It's a great show. It's like wall-to-wall hits, so I'm looking forward to it.
05:02 Well, Rick, I cannot wait to see you on that stage, and you will see my bra come right across your face.
05:07 Thank you for stopping by, you guys.
05:09 Make sure to pick up a copy of Rick's new album, "Automatic," on Friday, August 4th,
05:14 and you can check him out live in the "I Want My 80s Summer Tour."
05:19 (upbeat music)
05:21 (upbeat music)