Rick Springfield Reveals Doctors Are ‘Watching’ a Brain Injury He Sustained 25 Years Ago

Grammy Award–winning rock icon Rick Springfield has opened up about a brain injury he sustained from a stage fall 25 years ago.

Springfield, 75, said he broke his wrist and everything “seemed to be OK” after the fall initially. But recently, he had a full-body MRI that revealed he suffered a brain injury from that fall.

“It’s a very scary thing, because could that thing come up that you’ve always worried about, you know?” he said.

Springfield didn’t elaborate on the details of the injury and said, “We’re just watching it.”

Springfield explained the fall in a Today show segment. He said he fell 25 feet while performing a stunt at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2000.

“I fell 25 feet to a steel stage,” he explained. “I was supposed to be gravity-fed on a beam, and it wasn’t tied off.”

The “Jessie’s Girl” singer explained that he had “slammed” onto the stage, the beam “hit me on the head” and “my head hit the [stage] again.”

Springfield is currently on his “I Want My ’80s” tour along with John Waite, 73, Paul Young, 69, and the band Wang Chung.

Forty-three percent of Americans age 50-plus have injured their head at some point in their lives, according to a 2025 AARP study. About one-third of those incidents were likely traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, which can have lifelong consequences for physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral health.

As people age, falls become an increasingly likely cause of head injury. The survey shows 13 percent are extremely or very worried about experiencing such an event, while 26 percent are somewhat worried.

AARP has coverage on why TBIs can be dangerous in older adults and how to recover from a TBI.

The General Hospital star talked to AARP in 2023 about the one thing he misses about the 1980s, when he reached megastardom.

“Being young,” he said. “I turned 74, which is kind of freaky, but there you have it.”

Springfield also shared an adventurous bucket list.

“I’m going to jump out of an airplane at some point with a skydiver,” he stated. “That’s probably about the only thing I can say is actually like a typical bucket list item — to just jump out and do a skydive.”

He also said he wanted to be “better at what I do,” “a better person” and “more spiritual.”

“I wouldn’t really call it ‘the bucket list.’ I’ve met some great people that I grew up loving their music. I’ve done a lot of stuff,” Springfield said.