In 1980 he recorded "Working Class Dog" on a shoestring budget. It was then that he met Barbara Porter who was working as a receptionist at the time. She later became his wife. Rick auditioned for the the soap opera, "General Hospital" and got the part of Dr Noah Drake in early 1981 and shortly after, RCA released his album. From then on, things started to look up for him but within a few months of fulfilling his dreams, his father passed away.

By 1983 he was ready to be released from his contract at "General Hospital" to concentrate on his music. "Living in Oz" heralded a new Rick with a tougher, harder look reflected in his songs. The album went multi platinum with three hits in the top twenty.

Rick took on acting and starred in "Hard to Hold" but it brought his movie career to a halt, thus he returned to focus on his music. In 1984, Rick and Barbara Porter got married in Australia. Rick released his album "Tao" shortly after and toured with the album in 1985. His first son, Liam, was born in October after the tour ended.

"Rock of Life" was released in 1988 which tells of the difficulty of marriage, parenthood and the search for a reason to life. Rick suffered injuries during a motorcycle accident and the promotional tour for the album was cancelled. He was out of the limelight during his recovery and it was during this time that his second son, Joshua, was born in March of 1989.

Rick made a comeback in 1993 and started writing a new album. In 1994, he was offered a role in "High Tide", shot in New Zealand and then San Diego and Santa Barbara. It lasted for three seasons. "Sahara Snow" was released in July 1997, a collaboration between Bob Marlette, Tim Pierce and Rick. In 1998, Rick began to tour, promoting his new album, "Karma" which was released in April 1999. The success was beyond expectations.