Jessie's Girl was written and performed by Australian singer Rick Springfield and released as a single in 1981 from his album Working Class Dog. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Springfield a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. Built around unrequited love for a friend's girlfriend, it became one of the defining pop rock songs of the 1980s. Decades later the chorus still circulates in films, television and online edits, where the title line alone signals jealousy, longing and a familiar retro punchline.