Rick Springfield

From February 2001 through December 2002, Springfield performed in EFX Alive! at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada to critical acclaim. This claim is attributed to the lyrics "I'm the C-A-S-S-N-O-V-A and the rest is F-L-Y " used by Big Bank Hank in the song, at the time Grandmaster Caz regularly referred to himself as "Cassanova Fly"; but the Sugarhill Gang's place in music history seems secure as the first hip hop group to have a Gold single. Although his achievements are not well recognised in Australia, he has long maintained a large and fiercely loyal fan base in the United States and his many career achievements include a Grammy Award, four platinum albums, twenty US Top 100 singles and seventeen Top 40 hits including a US #1 and #2 single. In addition, Grandmaster Caz from the Cold Crush Brothers claims that Sugarhill Gang member Big Bank Hank used his rhymes on Rapper's Delight. He played a few minor roles on television in the 1990s, and released an album in 1999. The term "rap" is also claimed to be derrived from the title of this hit. After a few albums with some hit singles, Springfield's lack of critical acceptance slowed his career, though he continued releasing albums throughout the 1980s. Some claim that "Rapper's Delight" is the first hip-hop single ever; it was actually preceded by "King Tim III" by the Fatback Band.

Springfield was also nominated for two Grammys in 1982 and one Grammy in 1983. They continue to tour. Springfield won a Grammy in 1981 for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Jessie's Girl". In 1999 (see 1999 in music), they reunited and recorded Jump on It, a hip hop children's album. With a rabid fanbase, Springfield returned to music with Working Class Dog and the singles "Jessie's Girl" and "I've Done Everything for You". The Sugarhill Gang never again topped the charts, though they had a few minor hits, such as "Apache," "Eighth Wonder," "Rapper's Reprise [Jam Jam]" and "Showdown" (with the Furious Five). He then became a soap opera actor, most notable for appearing on General Hospital. The song was a #36 hit on the US pop chart and a #4 hit on the US R&B chart in 1979 (see 1979 in music), though hip-hop was dismissed as a brief fad.

He had a successful acting career, beginning with a brief role as Zac in the 1978 movie Battlestar Galactica. They were assembled into a group up by producer Sylvia Robinson who also founded Sugar Hill Records along with her husband record mogul Joe Robinson. He then went solo in 1971 (see 1971 in music) but was unable to maintain much of a career in the 1970s. The members, all from New York City, called themselves Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee. Rick Springfield (born Richard Lewis Springthorpe, August 23, 1949) is an Australian pop singer whose career began as a singer in Rock House, followed by Zoot, one of the most popular Australian groups of the late Sixties.
The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for one hit, "Rapper's Delight", the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit.