6 80s and 90s Soap Opera stars who tried their hand at pop music

I follow several of those amazing retro Instagram sites that feature posts about the 80s and how amazing the decade really was. One site, possibly Rerun the 80s, posted a music milestone of a popular soap star turned singer. This got me thinking of all the other soap stars who also became pop musicians in the 1980s. Let's take a look.

Rick Springfield

Rick Springfield is by far the most famous performer to juggle soap acting and his music career. He learned to play the guitar at 13 (1962) and was a member of many bands until his solo career kicked off in 1972. In 1977, he had his acting debut in The Six Million Dollar Man, leading to numerous other roles.

In 1981, Springfield was cast as Dr. Noah Drake in the longest-running American soap opera currently in production, General Hospital. At that time, he had already made a deal with RCA for his Working Class Dog album, which had already been recorded and was not expected to do well. He took the acting job before "Jessie's Girl" became a hit, requiring Springfield to play the role and tour with his band simultaneously. This boosted the soap opera's viewership, and soap opera fans flocked to buy his album. It was a win-win!

In 2024, Springfield continues to tour and a new album, Big Hits: Rick Springfield's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, will be released in 2025. He and fellow rocker Sammy Hagar partnered to create Beach Bar Rum, and his book Magnificient Vibration is a New York Times Best Seller.

Jack Wagner

Actor, musician, and golfer Jack Wagner has been a soap actor since 1982 and has starred in several soaps, including General Hospital, Santa Barbara, and The Bold and the Beautiful. Throughout his music career, he has recorded six albums, and in 1985, his hit ballad "All I Need" topped the Adult Contemporary charts at No. 1 and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. His best-known role is that of Fisco Jones in General Hospital, and he h

Kylie M

Australian singer, songwriter, and actress Kylie Minogue began her career on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, which still airs today. She played Charlene Robinson a schoolgirl turned mechanic. Minogue is the highest-selling Australian female artist of all time who during her career has won two Grammys, four Brit Awards, and eighteen ARIA Music Awards.

Michael Damian

Michael Damian is best known for his role as Danny Romalotti in the long-running soap opera, Young and the Restless. He was discovered after his 1981 appearance on American Bandstand where he performed a cover of "She Did It" by Eric Carman. He was approached to join the TV series as Danny, a struggling singer, and has starred in the soap on and off since that time.

Throughout his musical career, he released five albums and accumulated three top 40 hits including his No. 1 hit, "Rock On," a cover of David Essex's most successful single from 1973.

Gloria Loring

Gloria Loring is fondly remembered for her role as Liz Chandler on Day of Our Lives, a role she played for six years, a role she reprised the role in 2024. She teamed with Carl Anderson for the 1986 hit debut "Friends & Lovers," which she performed on Days of Our Lives nearly a year before its release. The song reached No. 2 on the Pop chart and No. 1 on the Adult contemporary chart. Eddie Rabbit and Juice Newton reached No. 1 on the country charts with their version of the song re-titled "Both To Each Other."

Natalie Imibruglia

Australian singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia starred in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in the early 1990s. After her departure from the series, she would move to the UK and begin her musical career. Her cover of Ednaswaps' "Torn," was a worldwide hit holding the No. 1 spot in the US on Billboard Radio Songs Chart for eleven weeks in 1998.