Rick Springfield performs in Sarasota

He wrote and performed "Jessie's Girl," one of the greatest pop-rock songs of the 1980s. He was a heartthrob on "General Hospital." He wrote a critically acclaimed novel that made it to the New York Times Best Sellers list. He has a new album all set and ready to be released in January, Recently, he held his own acting opposite movie legend Meryl Streep in Jonathan Demme's "Ricki and the Flash".

Besides all that, Rick Springfield is currently on two different concert tours. He's sharing the bill with Loverboy and the Romantics on one tour ("It's wall-to-wall hits, and they still play great, too," Springfield said), and he's the sole headliner on the other.

The second stop on that latter tour is in Sarasota, where Springfield will be at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Thursday.

At 66 years old, Springfield is still youthful-looking, and he's obviously not slowing down.

The new album, "Rocket Science," is his 20th, and he'll be doing some songs from it at his Van Wezel show.

But he's also got plenty of classic hits to offer his audience, too, including "Jessie's Girl," Don't Talk to Strangers," "I've Done Everything for You" and "Affair of the Heart."

The novel, "Magnificent Vibration," came out last year. It's a "very dark comedy," he says, about a guy who finds a phone number in a self-help book, calls it finds himself talking to God.

"It's a fun show," he said, "and I have an amazing band."

There's no one in the band who people are likely to have heard of, he said, "but you will. That's the kind of guys they are."

Details: 8 p.m. Oct. 15, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets: $60-$75. Information: 941-953-3368, vanwezel.org.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Rick Springfield performs in Sarasota ."