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Singer Rick Springfield only recently discovered he has brain damage — 25 years after taking a bad fall during a performance.
The “Jessie’s Girl” singer detailed a recent full body MRI scan he had done that revealed the impact his brain took during a concert in Las Vegas in 2000.
“I fell 25 feet, hit my head, and then wood came down and hit my head, and then my head hit the stage again,” the 75-year-old told People magazine.
“I thought I had just broken my wrist, but on the scan, I found out I have some brain damage from the fall, so I’m working on trying to repair that.”
Springfield acknowledged that some people “don’t want to know what’s wrong with them” — including his own late father — but he wants to know everything.
“My dad died from not wanting to know. He thought he had stomach cancer for years and never got it checked out,” Springfield recounted.
“When he finally collapsed one day at home, they found out it was an ulcer that burst, and he died from the loss of blood,” he continued. “It could have been fixed if he had gotten it checked out.”
For Springfield, that served as a “giant message” for him.
“If you want to live long, you have to be prepared for some bad news now and then,” he said.
“I could find out I have terminal cancer tomorrow and be dead in a year, but I can only do all I can do.”
It’s an approach that has worked for the singer, who says he still feels like he’s in his 20s, despite turning 76 in August.
“Then I see people dying from old age and disease and go, ‘Wow, I’m the same age as old people,’” he joked.
The “Don’t Talk to Strangers” singer detailed how he works hard to protect his body and health, exercising daily, maintaining a largely pescatarian diet, and cutting down his alcohol consumption.
“I was drinking quite a bit, and as you get older, it’s kind of a natural thing to drop all that s***,” he said.
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“I’m not (in) AA — I mean, I know a lot of people it’s worked for. I’ll have a couple of sips of vodka or something when I’m onstage, but I don’t drink any other time.”
He also said that drinking less has impacted his mental health as well.
Springfield, who has been battling depression since he was young, also revealed he experimented with ketamine and LSD treatments and found some success with the latter.
“I did acid, and that was actually a little better. I hadn’t done that since I was in my 20s, but it was a great high,” he told People.
“I don’t mean to push drugs on anyone, but I’m not averse to anything that helps me be happier and a better person,” he added. “I could use some help in that area. I’m always searching.”
Springfield, whose “I Want My ‘80s Tour” returns this year, also said that the saying “wisdom comes with age” is “bulls***.”
He noted: “Wisdom comes with digging and looking at yourself. It doesn’t automatically come.”