Rick was born to Norman James and Eileen Louise Springthorpe as Richard Lewis Springthorpe on August 23, 1949 in Sydney, Australia. He got his first guitar at the age of 13, and fell in love with making music. His first band, Rock House, played in VietNam, but split up shortly thereafter. Rick soon joined the Australian band Zoot, as lead guitarist. They had several hits, including a cover of "Eleanor Rigby."

Rick soon went solo and released the single "Speak to the Sky," which became a hit in Australia. His first solo album, "Beginnings," was released in 1972 and Rick found himself heading for the United States. The following year, he released "Comic Book Heroes." Soon came "Mission Magic," an album from his ABC cartoon of the same title. In 1976, "Wait for Night" was released and the single "Take a Hand" begins climbing the charts. Unfortunately the record company closed its doors, and the album went nowhere after that.

Rick finally got his big break in 1980, with the release of "Working Class Dog." From this album came his Grammy Award winning hit "Jessie's Girl." 1982 brought us "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet," with such hits as I Get Excited and Don't Talk to Strangers. From 1983 to 1985, Rick released three more albums: "Living in Oz," the soundtrack from his movie "Hard to Hold," and "Tao." After a 3 year break, his next album, "Rock of Life," was released in 1988. Just before he was scheduled to begin touring for this album, he was involved in a serious ATV accident, and the tour was cancelled. Fortunately Rick healed, both physically and emotionally, and eventually returned to the music scene in 1999 with the release of "Karma." He began an extensive tour to promote the album, and fans both old and new began gaining interest. In 2001 he released his first live recording called "Greatest Hits Alive." He is currently starring in the Vegas show "EFX Alive," replacing Tommy Tune in the lead role.

Besides his career in music, Rick has quite an extensive career in acting as well. He played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital, and starred in the movie Hard to Hold as, appropriately, a rock musician. He has appeared on Sonny and Cher, Battlestar Gallactica, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, The Rockford Files, Six Million Dollar Man, Human Target, Robin's Hoods, Martial Law, Suddenly Susan, and had his own series called High Tide. Rick's other movie credits include Dead Reckoning, Nick Knight, Silent Motive, In the Shadows, A Change of Place, With Harmful Intent, Loyal Opposition: Terror in the White House, and Legion.

Rick and his wife, Barbara (married in 1984) have two sons, Liam James and Joshua Charles.