Rick Springfield Has Considered Suicide Multiple Times
Rick Springfield is a successful singer, songwriter, actor, and author. Regardless of his accolades, Springfield has struggled with depression and attempted suicide at various points throughout his life.
Rick Springfield is a talented actor and musician
Springfield is best known for his music. One of his most famous songs is the 1981 number one hit, “Jessie’s Girl.” Springfield has several other Top 10 singles, including “I’ve Done Everything for You,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” and “Love Somebody.”
In addition to writing music, Springfield is a seasoned actor. He joined the cast of the soap opera General Hospital in 1981 as Doctor Noah Drake. At the time, he was recording his Working Class Dog album. When “Jessie’s Girl” topped the charts, General Hospital‘s ratings skyrocketed, along with Springfield’s music career.
Throughout his career, Springfield continued to act when he wasn’t writing new music or on tour. He has had roles in television series like American Horror Story: Cult, True Detective, and Supernatural. He has also been in movies, including Hard to Hold, Legion, and Ricki and the Flash. Today, Springfield continues to write music and tour. In 2019, he released a compilation album featuring orchestral versions of his biggest hits called Orchestrating My Life.
Rick Springfield has contemplated suicide in the past
In 2011, Springfield released his autobiography Late, Late at Night. In it, he detailed his first attempted suicide. He was 17-years-old. “I don’t know how, but I survived the hanging,” Springfield recalled to Sirius XM. In discussing the song “Suicide Manifesto” from his 2018 album Snake King, Springfield opened up about his more recent struggles with suicidal thoughts. “I know I’m kind of known as the ‘happy poppy guy,’ but ‘Jessie’s Girl’ was sexual angst — ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’ was fear of my girlfriend screwing around on me — [most of my songs] come from dark places,” Springfield explained.
While writing is therapeutic for the musician, he said he still understands the feelings others who die by suicide are going through. “When Robin Williams and Chester [Bennington] and those guys [died], I didn’t go, ‘Oh, that’s terrible.’ I went, ‘I get it,’” he explained. “I get being that lost and dark. You’re in so much pain that you just want it to end. I have been there, and I know what it’s like, and I understand. It’s just part of your makeup.”
Rick Springfield’s kids saved his life
Springfield and his wife, Barbara Porter, share two children, Liam and Joshua Springthorpe. When they were born, they helped motivate Springfield to avoid viewing suicide as a solution. “When I had kids, I said ‘OK, that takes suicide off the table,'” Springfield said. “That’s not an option anymore — I don’t care how bad I feel.” Even now, with grown kids, Springfield said he doesn’t know how he could ever “come to terms” with devastating his family with suicide.
In addition to his loving family, meditation has helped Springfield stay centered. “Meditation gets me to that place I’m not depressed, no matter what’s going on,” he said. Thanks to these coping mechanisms, Springfield has found a way to combat thoughts of attempting suicide.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line.
