Forty-five years ago today, one of the most recognizable songs of the 1980s rose to the top of the charts, and also sparked a mystery that still hasn’t been solved 45 years later.<\/p>\n
Australian-born singer Rick Springfield had been largely quiet on American music charts following his 1971 debut single “Speak to the Sky,” which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard <\/em>Hot 100. In January 1981, Springfield released “Jessie’s Girl,” which promptly became the unofficial anthem for men pining after another guy’s lady.<\/p>\n Thanks in large part to its unforgettable–and longing–chorus, “Jessie’s Girl” became a quick hit in America. On August 1, 1981, it unseated Air Supply’s “The One That You Love” from the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n “Jessie’s Girl” remained at No. 1 for two weeks before giving way to Diana Ross and Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love<\/a>.” In addition to topping the Hot 100, “Jessie’s Girl” climbed to No. 1 on the Cash Box<\/em> and Record World <\/em>charts and in Australia<\/a>. <\/p>\n It also finished third on the year-end Cash Box<\/em> chart and at No. 5 on the Billboard<\/em> version.<\/p>\n No one knows–not even Springfield himself. That’s because the object of the rocker’s affection was simply a girl who was dating an acquaintance of his named Gary, whom he had taken a stained glass painting class with, according to a 2023 interview with Louder Sound<\/a>. <\/p>\n “Springfield never spoke directly to the subject of his ardor \u2013 in fact he didn\u2019t even know the name of the girl he found himself ‘panting over from afar,'” the article states. “And when he left the class after a few months he lost touch with the couple.”<\/p>\n Inspired to write a song about his experience, Springfield was apparently stuck on what to call his anonymous crush. “Gary’s Girl” didn’t seem right, but eventually he settled on “Jessie.” A 1999 Entertainment Weekly<\/em> article <\/a>says Springfield got the idea because of then-Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Ron Jessie, whose name was on one of the singer’s favorite shirts.<\/p>\n \u201cI almost called the song Randy\u2019s Girl,\u201d Springfield told Louder Sound. \u201cI\u2019m so glad I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Over four decades later, we’re all still waiting for Jessie’s (Gary’s) girl to come forward. Maybe this post will be the thing that finally prompts her to identify herself.<\/p>\n Source: Life \u2013 Fitness \u2013 mensjournal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forty-five years ago today, one of the most recognizable songs of the 1980s rose to the top of the charts, and also sparked a mystery that still hasn’t been solved 45 years later. Australian-born singer Rick Springfield had been largely\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15236937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[317],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15236935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield.jpg",1200,675,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-620x349.jpg",620,349,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-940x529.jpg",940,529,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield.jpg",1200,675,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield.jpg",1200,675,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-998x665.jpg",998,665,true],"ignition_item":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-670x446.jpg",670,446,true],"ignition_item_lg":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield.jpg",1200,675,false],"ignition_article_media":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-510x510.jpg",510,510,true],"ignition_minicart_item":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-160x160.jpg",160,160,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-24x24.jpg",24,24,true],"profile_48":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-48x48.jpg",48,48,true],"profile_96":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-96x96.jpg",96,96,true],"profile_150":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"profile_300":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/15236935-raise-the-ruff-benefiting-peppers-senior-dog-sanctuary-with-rick-springfield-300x300.jpg",300,300,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"news.iNthacity","author_link":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/author\/atombo\/"},"category_info":"Fitness<\/a>","tag_info":"Fitness","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15236935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15236935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15236935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15236936,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15236935\/revisions\/15236936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15236937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15236935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15236935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15236935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}All the way to the top<\/h2>\n
So who was the real Jessie’s Girl?<\/h2>\n