Sep 8, 2026 · 2h 24m
Rick Springfield shares longevity secrets and rock history with Joe Rogan
#2550 - Rick Springfield
This episode offers a rare, deeply personal look at the mental health, physical longevity, and creative evolution of a rock icon who has spent over five decades in the spotlight.
- 1A strict regimen of stem cell therapy, cold plunges, and dry saunas fuels Springfield's performance energy at age 77.
Don't miss
Rick Springfield opens up about the psychological impact of his time touring Vietnam at age 18, including a heavy moment where he fired a mortar.
The brief
At 77 years old, musician and actor Rick Springfield is still performing with high energy. He joins Joe Rogan to discuss his journey from touring Vietnam at age 18 to reaching global superstardom with the massive hit Jessies Girl.
Springfield attributes his longevity to strict wellness practices, including stem cell therapy, cold plunges, and dry saunas, while opening up about his lifelong battle with depression and the weight of his wartime experiences.
The conversation details Springfield's transition from seeking personal attention to focusing on serving his audience, alongside behind-the-scenes stories from his peak days acting on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.
Springfield shares his creative evolution into writing dark humor novels and his passion for collecting rare historical memorabilia, which includes handwritten Beatles lyrics and an authentic plaque from a Titanic lifeboat.
What was said on this episode
40 statements · 21 positive · 12 negative · 3 mixed · 4 neutral
Wars generate significant innovation.
“Wars create great innovation.”
Listen at 4:59
Cannabis helped reduce his constant fear during wartime.
“being stoned helped you deal with it, you know, not have the constant fear”
Listen at 15:39
Cannabis intensified acute fear during wartime.
“when the fear hit, if you're stoned, it's like you go over the top”
Listen at 15:47
Live performances give audiences temporary freedom from daily problems.
“our job is to give the audience 90 minutes, 2 hours of freedom from the crap that bothers them during the day”
Listen at 31:20
Art does not fundamentally exist to be liked.
“art doesn't exist to be liked”
Listen at 32:45
Attention from others never fills the emotional void motivating ego.
“But it never does.”
Listen at 35:04
Regular body scans and blood tests help people monitor internal health.
“this is all part of it, is knowing what is going on inside you, you know, and not ignoring anything”
Listen at 47:54
Bemi’s facial treatment uses growth factors derived from the user’s own cells.
“this is your own growth factor, so you're putting that back on your own body”
Listen at 51:23
Rick Springfield evaluates Bemi’s treatment as highly effective or impressive.
“It's been pretty amazing.”
Listen at 51:30
Muse cells appear more effective than fat- or bone-marrow-derived cells.
“mu cells in particular, which is the newest iteration of stem cell technology, seems to work much better than cells that they used to get from either fat— they used to get it from your fat, right? Or they used to get it from bone marrow.”
Listen at 52:12
Rick Springfield says hip injections of bone-marrow stem cells work.
“It works.”
Listen at 52:34
OrthoKine treatment effects last approximately two years.
“it lasts a couple of years”
Listen at 52:59
A 60-session hyperbaric protocol lengthens telomeres, equating to 20 biological years.
“the protocol is 60 sessions of 90 minutes over 90 days, and they show that it lengthens your telomeres. It's equivalent to a 20-year difference in biological age.”
Listen at 54:08
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy produces markedly better recovery detectable by wearable devices.
“it'll show that you've had an incredible recovery”
Listen at 54:28
Frequent sauna use is associated with 40% lower all-cause mortality.
“the people that use the sauna 4 times per week for 20 minutes had a 40% decrease in all-cause mortality”
Listen at 56:30
Cold exposure immediately after exercise reduces muscle hypertrophy.
“it decreases hypertrophy”
Listen at 58:09
Creatine supplementation improves cognitive performance.
“Creatine increases cognitive performance”
Listen at 1:01:33
Creatine improves performance when people are tired.
“it's really good if you're tired”
Listen at 1:01:36
Red kangaroos can disembowel people with their hind legs.
“with their back legs, they can disembowel a guy”
Listen at 1:09:12
Loving one’s work is important for longevity.
“it's really, really important for your longevity that you love what you do”
Listen at 1:14:48
Society drives developments in music.
“I think more that society drives what's happening in music”
Listen at 1:23:39
European genetic mixing contributed to Britain’s abundance of great bands.
“I think that's a lot of the reason there are so many great bands, is it's a collection of all this genetic material from, you know, from Europe and all around.”
Listen at 1:27:41
Fragmented music audiences make another universally dominant artist unlikely.
“I don't even know if that's possible anymore. Because the audience is so fragmented now.”
Listen at 1:35:34
Modern music audiences are highly fragmented.
“the audience is so fragmented now”
Listen at 1:35:38
Audience fragmentation may limit massive followings, with Taylor Swift an exception.
“I don't know if it allows for— I think Taylor Swift is actually the first one to really get that amount of gigantic following.”
Listen at 1:36:06
Taylor Swift is the first artist since earlier icons to achieve a gigantic following.
“I think Taylor Swift is actually the first one to really get that amount of gigantic following.”
Listen at 1:36:09
Rock guitar may not return to mainstream popularity.
“hopefully it'll, you know, I don't know if it'll come back.”
Listen at 1:36:56
DJs drove Jesse's Girl toward becoming a released single.
“And Jesse's Girl was a, was a product of the DJs.”
Listen at 1:37:52
Record companies struggled to market guitar-based pop records.
“They didn't know what to do with a guitar-based pop record.”
Listen at 1:43:37
Music executives decide which artists and songs receive promotion and fame.
“they just decide what is gonna be pushed and what's gonna be famous.”
Listen at 1:45:10
Pre-internet DJs shaped audiences’ exposure to culture and music.
“you learned about culture from these people pre-internet. They were the tastemakers.”
Listen at 1:47:03
General Hospital’s popularity surge was an organic viral cultural moment.
“it was a completely— it was an organic viral moment for whatever reason.”
Listen at 1:56:47
General Hospital’s unprecedented cultural phenomenon never recurred.
“Never happened again.”
Listen at 1:56:55
Today’s most popular soap attracts roughly one-third of General Hospital’s peak viewership.
“The most popular soap now has about a third of the viewership that General Hospital had at the time.”
Listen at 1:56:57
Soap operas often cast attractive young performers for screen presence over acting ability.
“they pick young, pretty people who aren't necessarily the best actors, but they have a presence”
Listen at 2:01:10
Luke and Laura’s General Hospital wedding attracted 30 million viewers.
“30 million viewers.”
Listen at 2:03:10
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds originated from Julian Lennon’s painting.
“But it was really about the painting that Julian did.”
Listen at 2:12:02
Drugs may redirect existing talent toward creative outcomes otherwise not reached.
“the drugs just maybe took that talent somewhere that they maybe wouldn't have gone if they hadn't done the drugs.”
Listen at 2:13:09
Drugs do not create artistic creativity.
“But it wasn't drugs that make people creative.”
Listen at 2:13:15
Persistence creates opportunities for luck to produce success.
“the luck happens when you stay in the game.”
Listen at 2:17:19
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
