Rick Springfield’s star has never fallen

A near half-century run as a successful recording artist and actor is quite an accomplishment.

Rick Springfield has enjoyed 45 years as a popular entertainer. Springfield, who will perform Saturday at Andover’s Central Park, has been able to accomplish such a feat mainly because of perseverance.

“I never gave up,” Springfield said. “I think that’s the most important thing for me or anyone, no matter what they do. That’s what I’ve always told my children. Don’t give up. Times haven’t always been good, but I never stopped. Because of that, I’ve experienced more good than bad.”

Night Ranger and the Romantics will open for Springfield at a concert starting at 7 p.m. Saturday. Fireworks will follow the concert. Tickets are $10; children ages 12 and under will be admitted free.

The charismatic Australian hit the stratosphere twice during the early 1980s. Springfield became a star portraying Dr. Noah Drake in the soap opera “General Hospital.” If that wasn’t enough, he became the biggest pop sensation in America courtesy of his 1981 album “Working Class Dog,” which includes the massive smash “Jessie’s Girl.”

“It was an incredible time to say the least,” Springfield said. “I got to do what I wanted to do. That hit album gave me autonomy.”

Since the end of the ’80s, Springfield’s career has ebbed and flowed. “I never stopped,” Springfield said. “If I worked hard, I knew it would swing back for me.”

His determination has paid off. Dave Grohl helped resurrect Springfield’s career when he was making his “Sound City” documentary in 2013. Sound City Studios in Los Angeles is where a number of classic albums were recorded, including Grohl “Nevermind” when Grohl was with Nirvana. One of the most successful albums recorded at Sound City was “Working Class Dog.”

Springfield is featured prominently in the documentary, and Grohl, now of Foo Fighters fame, invited him to join the supergroup Sound City Players made up of artists who recorded at Sound City.

Springfield was one of the featured attractions at South by Southwest festival in Austin three years ago as an integral part of the short-lived supergroup, which also included John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks and Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen.

“That was so much fun,” Springfield said. “Being part of something so special like that is the reason to be in this business. You never know what is going to be offered to you.”

Grohl isn’t the only icon to work recently with Springfield. Meryl Streep played his lover and bandmate in 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash.”

“I almost didn’t audition for the part,” Springfield said. “I’m glad I did. It was amazing working with Meryl. Who wouldn’t want to work with her? She worked on every little detail about how you hold a guitar. She worked on how you do everything as a musician and she got it down.”

Perhaps it’s time for Springfield to write another chapter to his autobiography after his experiences with Streep. His 2010 memoir, “Late, Late at Night,” is an entertaining tome. One of the best parts of the book is when he revealed that he still had problems despite his fame.

“I thought things would go away when you get a lot of money or fame, but that doesn’t happen,” Springfield said. “It’s just like those people who win the Powerball. They’re just as dumb as they were before they won. It’s the same for musicians who become successful. You don’t change overnight. Who you are doesn’t change with success. Writing that autobiography was so cathartic for me.”

Count on Springfield to deliver the old hits. “You have to play them, and I do,” Springfield said. “It would be wrong not to do them. The songs still hold up.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 8:25 AM with the headline "Rick Springfield’s star has never fallen."