Last night, Rick Springfield and his newly vindicated butt returned to the scene of the crime, performing a concert at the opening day of the 2015 New York State Fair at Chevy Court. It was unsure if the former Noah Drake would return to the venue, having spent the last eight years being sued for allegedly injuring a fan with his butt at a concert there. But according to The Syracuse Post Standard, shortly after winning said lawsuit, Springfield “and [his] butt!” promised fans that they would return to Central New York.
Back in January, The A.V. Club reported on a frivolous lawsuit in which plaintiff Vicki Calcagno claimed the ’80s superstar caused “serious, disabling, and permanent injuries” by falling on her butt-first at a show back in 2004. (The power-pop singer is used to having women become “disoriented or unconscious” due to his butt, but is very rarely sued as a result.) Calcagno filed suit in 2007, and a judge presiding over the case declared a mistrial when another Springfield fan testified that she was hit by the singer’s butt in a similar fashion (and not injured), setting a butt precedent. Finally, in a victory for butts around the world, a jury ruled in favor of Rick Springfield’s butt earlier this year.
The 66-year-old performed a 75-minute set—presumably 50 minutes of the hits, five minutes of new songs, and 10 minutes of butt jokes—for a crowd holding signs referring to Rick Springfield’s butt and their insistence that they wouldn’t mind being hit by it. It’s uncertain whether Vicki Calcagno was in attendance, but she probably was standing at least 15 feet away from Rick Springfield’s butt.