Insiders tell Soap Opera Digest that Rick Springfield (Noah) is headed back to General Hospital for a summer story line, one that will also involve his rock star doppelgänger, Eli Love.
Will he reprise his romance with Anna (Finola Hughes), who's currently in town visiting her pregnant daughter, Robin? We'll let you know more about that when we do.
Yesterday, Rick Springfield appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
The General Hospital star took the stage as an audience filled with screaming women welcomed the 58-year-old singer/actor.
On the show, Springfield decided to surprise Dawn, a hospital employee who claimed to be one of Springfield's biggest fans. Upon seeing the soap actor standing right in front of her, Dawn was stunned.
"She's vibrating!" the General Hospital actress said of Dawn.
"I'm sorry, I'm in shock that you're actually sitting in my office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin," Dawn told Springfield."
Hey, we understand, Dawn. If Rick showed up here in Boston tomorrow, we'd feel the same way.
Later this year, General Hospital fans will have a chance to go on a cruise... with Rick Springfield!
The Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise is scheduled for November 13-17, 2008.
Along with Springfield, the following soap opera stars will be aboard the ship: Jackie Zeman (Bobbie Spencer), Kimberlly McCullough (Robin Scorpio) and Doug Davidson (Paul Williams from The Young and the Restless).
Those on the cruise will also have a chance to attend:
Find out more about the cruise now.
Rick Springfield took time out of his busy touring schedule to speak with Soap Opera Digest about his new CD, Christmas With You.
General Hospital fans can pick it up on December 18.
Soap Opera Digest: So, let's talk Christmas.
Rick Springfield: This whole thing came about as a way to do something for our troops. There's only one original song on the Christmas CD. It's the title track called "Christmas With You." Derek Hilland wrote it about the perspective of the troops being away from home at Christmas and the music video for it features photos and names of fallen soldiers. The song isn't long enough to put all of them in, but it does feature a lot of our fallen soldiers, men and women.
Digest: Where did the inspiration come from for that?
Springfield: We wanted to do something rather than complain. If I see one more "War isn't the answer" bumper sticker I'm going to drive my car right into the other car. It's not a political statement. It's just in support of the troops, the men and women who gave their lives in service to their country. My dad was a lifer in the army. I grew up on army bases. Derek's dad was in the Air Force and he fought in Vietnam.
I played for the troops in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, so it's something we felt honest and truthful about. I've been to Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center in Maryland] and talked to some of the guys who just came back from Iraq with serious head wounds. People ought to get out and actually do something other than just f---ing talking. I don't mean to get on my high horse.
This is a little tiny thing that we thought we could do and the proceeds go to the gold star mothers, who are parents who've lost children over in Iraq.
Digest: How would you describe the rest of the tone of the CD?
Springfield: I wanted the stuff to be traditional sounding, but I never liked rock Christmas albums. I like stuff you can put on, light a fire and put up the Christmas tree by. They're all songs that I grew up with and loved.
When people used to write songs back then, they wrote them for the church and for God and that's basically what these are. These are some of the best pop songs of the day. Some of the music is staggering when you get into it, when you look at the chord structures and the melodies.
Finola Hughes enjoyed her short story arc with Rick Springfield, Jason Thompson (Patrick) and her good friend Kimberly McCullough.
Springfield is a relatively new General Hospital co-star for this actress, but she has nothing but great things to say about the actor/rock star to KOMO-TV in Seattle.
Hes adorable. OMG, I love him, hes the best hes really chill, hes totally chill, she said. Hes just really charismatic, and anything goes, really easy to work with. But then when he gets on stage, just step back, stand back and watch, cause he goes nuts.
Rick Springfield performed live on General Hospital for the first time ever on August 23.
Now, he and his band mates are touring the world for real. Catch them on the following dates:
Working Class Tour Dates & Cities:
August 30 & 31, Sept 1: Melbourne, AU
September 2: Adelaide, AU
September 5: Perth, AU
September 14: Nashville, TN
September 15: Clearwater, FL
September 16: Hollywood, FL
September 21: Elizabeth, IN
September 28: Denver, CO
September 29: Pala, CA
September 30: Phoenix, AZ
October 6: Coachella, CA
October 19: Anaheim, CA
October 20: Primm, NV
November 3: Tacoma, WA
November 15: Biloxi, MI
Also, as previously reported, you can also listen to Kyle Lowder in concert in October.
The famous crooner and General Hospital star turns 58 today.
In his honor, we figured we'd post a clip of Rick Springfield donning a pink suit and singing "Whenever I Call You Friend" with Cheryl Ladd in 1982. Why not, right?
Tomorrow, meanwhile, marks Springfield's singing debut on General Hospital. Regarding the event, executive producer Jill Farren Phelps said:
"The town of Port Charles is literally going to rock. Long-time viewers as well as Rick Springfield fans will be entertained, while new viewers will see why General Hospital is appointment television."
For the first time ever on General Hospital, actor and musician Rick Springfield will sing on air.
On Friday, August 24 Springfield will perform the song Who Killed Rock n Roll? from his upcoming album, due for release in early 2008. In addition, national non-profit LIFEbeat will be incorporated into the concert storyline to educate the audience on the real-life charitable organization that works with the music industry and those affected by HIV/AIDS.
As has been developing in a popular General Hospital storyline, Dr. Noah Drake (Springfield), his son, Dr. Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson), and Dr. Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) tell hospital patient and rock star Eli Love (Springfield in a dual role) that he needs emergency surgery and must cancel his appearance in a charity concert benefiting LIFEbeat.
Enter Anna Devane (Finola Hughes), who quickly devises a plan to transform Noah Drake into the musician so that the show can go on as scheduled.
We love to find new, fun ways to keep the genre fresh, and this story fits nicely into that plan - good story and a fun ride. To boot, we are happy to partner with LIFEbeat in their mission to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, saiad Brian Frons, president, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group.
Sam: Lucky, it's called cleavage, and it's the best weapon we've got.