If you go
› What: Rick Springfield: Stripped Down, with guest Logan Brill.› When: 8 p.m. Sunday, May 22.› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.› Admission: $39.50, $54.50 and $225 VIP (includes meet-and-greet after the show).› Phone: 1-800-514-3849.› Website: www.tivoli chattanooga.com.
Rick Springfield is different things to different people, including pop idol, actor and author.
Because of his good looks, he often gets labeled as just another pretty face with a couple of radio hits. So much so that some people lose sight of just how good he is. He's won a Grammy and sold more than 25 million albums thanks to such hits as "Jessie's Girl," "Don't Talk to Strangers," "An Affair of the Heart," "I've Done Everything for You," "Love Somebody" and "Human Touch."
His 2010 memoir, "Late, Late at Night," was named by Rolling Stone as one of the 25 greatest rock memoirs of all time, and his comedic novel, "Magnificent Vibration," made the New York Times best-seller list and drew rave reviews.
His television and film work includes his star-making turn as Dr. Noah Drake/Eli Love on the ABC soap opera "General Hospital" and as solid support for Meryl Streep in the 2015 film "Ricki and the Flash." But he's worked pretty regularly since his first credits on the animated TV series "Mission: Magic" in 1973, with roles in shows ranging from "The Rockford Files" to "Suddenly Susan" to "Hot in Cleveland" to, most recently, "True Detective."
On Sunday, May 22, he will give a solo performance at the Tivoli Theatre. Springfield told Rolling Stone this current tour, Stripped Down, is about the next phase of his career and not about looking back.
"I guess it may appear like that, but in my head, I've never really left," Springfield says. "I think it's really important to stay connected to the vitality of your career. I have a certain pride that I'm not a total nostalgia act. I've never been the guy who hung the platinum albums on my walls because, to me, it was looking back. I'm very passionate about moving forward. I have to write new music. I have to record. I'm always working on the live shows. I have to always be working. Otherwise I think I'd just turn to smoke and disappear."
Springfield was born in Australia and was originally in a pop band called Zoot.
He moved to the U.S. in 1972, scoring big a decade later with "Jessie's Girl." The song earned him a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.