Month: January 2020

Getting into the spirit: The Beach Bar Rum business venture

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Rick Springfield and Sammy Hagar have announced their next collaboration: Beach Bar Rum. People magazine announced the business venture last week (see article here.)

I don’t know why, but whenever I think of this new partnership, the song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” starts playing in my head (from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland). (Though I guess the first song to come to mind SHOULD be “I’ve Done Everything for You.” Oh well.)

“Sammy has had such amazing success in the spirit business and I’ve wanted to get into it for a while now. When this opportunity came along I thought it was a brilliant idea. … And I am an Ernest Hemingway fan so of course I drink rum. I’ve tried a bunch of them and the Beach Bar brand is a cut above all the ones I tried — smoother and sweeter.”

Rick Springfield in People magazine
Embed from Getty Images

The rockers are selling three kinds of rums: a classic white rum, a Kola Spiced rum and the Red Head Macadamia Nut rum. (That last one sounds especially good.)

They launched the collaboration on Jan. 23 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony recognizing the renovation and renaming of the Stratosphere hotel in Vegas – it’s now called the Strat (it’s fitting for a couple of rock guitarists to be present for launching that new name, right?) Star chef Guy Fieri, who was also there celebrating his birthday, collaborates with Hagar on Tequila brands so everyone was in good spirits.

Drink up me hearties, yo ho.

Raising funds for the animals

RS’s month hasn’t been all rock n’ roll and rum. In addition to the screening of the new documentary “Orchestrating my Life” and performance/fundraiser with the Santa Monica High School Orchestra on Jan. 25, and four shows (including one at Graceland), he and Richard Marx did a live-stream fundraiser in his home studio to benefit Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors.

(Background thought on watching these videos – Is that the actual H.G, Wells cardboard cutout from the cover of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club album?! Knowing he collects Beatles memorabilia, it could be possible.)

He also made an appearance at the Recording Academy’s annual MusiCares gala this past week, but it was evident that his homeland wasn’t far from his mind during this interview with ET Canada: “Rick Springfield tears up while speaking about the Australia wildfires.”

He mentioned in the interview that the Souls to Save T-shirt Fundraising Drive for Australia, available on his merch site, has already raised $30,000! And he’s also selling some of his personal guitar collection to raise funds for Australia.

To tie this post all together, here is Rick Springfield wearing his Souls to Save T-shirt and singing Sammy Hagar’s song at Graceland.

A new documentary, a tribute concert and ‘The Song’

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Out of nowhere last week came a surprise tweet with a poster about a movie premiere fundraiser. The movie? “Orchestrating My Life,” a documentary of Rick Springfield as he creates his rock-meets-orchestra album and tour featuring students from the Santa Monica High School Orchestra.

What?! How cool is that? Tickets start at $20 for general admission so all those Southern Cal fans have a great opportunity to see the film and the live performance by RS and the orchestra! Proceeds will benefit the school’s orchestras.

Other recent news is RS’s participation in a concert in tribute to Eddie Money on Feb. 20, a little over a year after Eddie Money’s death. Other artists will include Sammy Hagar, George Thorogood and John Waite. Proceeds will benefit MusiCares and the USC Eddie Money Cancer Research Fund. Another bonus for Southern Cal fans, as the concert will be in Beverly Hills.

As mentioned in the last post, he’s also been busy advocating for help in fighting the Australian fires, lending his voice to promoting awareness of how the fires are affecting the country’s wildlife.

The New Year also started with several shows – he’s already had two shows in Oklahoma and one in Louisiana, and tonight’s he’s rockin’ at Graceland in Memphis. There are a couple more later in the month, too, in Massachusetts and Connecticut. As usual, it looks like he has a full touring schedule this year, including Hawaii and Disney World Epcot, as well as his fan getaway in May in Cancun, Mexico. (Plus that whole summer tour with Chicago. Is he coming to your town? Check here. )

This weekend, he will also be on “The Song,” a new TV series that reveals stories behind hit songs. Can you guess what song will be featured?

Devastation in Australia

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The recent news in Australia is so horrifying, it’s incomprehensible that a country is experiencing so much devastation.

According to recent reports, since September 2019, this season’s fire season have burned 24 million acres, killed at least 28 people, destroyed about 2,000 homes and may have killed half a billion animals. An estimated 8,000 koala bears have died from the fires, which is almost one-third of all koalas in New South Wales alone, which is their main habitat.

This is so heartbreaking.

As Rick Springfield is both a huge advocate for animals and from Australia, he is the perfect spokesperson to spread awareness of the fires. Today, he shared the following video with this message:

The images in this video may be disturbing to some, but this is our reality. It is our responsibility to heal the planet and help all its inhabitants, big and small. The damage these fires have caused will be felt long after the flames are gone. Native animals that are found nowhere else on the planet are now in great danger of disappearing forever. The Veterinarians and services treating all the burned animals need money to operate. Please help and give what you can. Love & Healing, Rick Donate: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emerg…

Additionally, the Rick Springfield Merch site has announced a T-Shirt Fundraising Drive for Australia. The vintage jersey shirt is adorable, with a picture of a koala bear in Ron’s “Working Class Dog” attire. The text says “Souls to Save: Heal Australia.” The cost is $50. Here’s the text on the site:

Devastating wildfires in Rick’s native homeland of Australia have shaken the world, and what seems like an impossible number to conceive, over half a billion of the country’s animals are dead. While we try to wrap our heads around this incredible tragedy, Australia needs our help for the survivors. 100% of the proceeds of this shirt sale will be donated to WIRES Emergency Fund.

As I was writing this, I remembered the announced title of RS’s next novel, which now sounds so ironic: “World on Fire.” I wish what is happening in Australia was just a plot in a fictional novel rather than reality.