| “ | Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie, and hurt you. |
” |
―Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up (1987) | ||
Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15 million copies worldwide. His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a No. 1 hit in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. His 1988 single "Together Forever" also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and was one of his eight songs to reach the UK Singles Chart Top 10.
In 1988, Astley followed up his debut album with Hold Me in Your Arms which achieved Platinum and Gold certifications internationally. The lead single "She Wants to Dance with Me" became a worldwide Top 10 hit. In 1991, he left Stock Aitken Waterman moving his musical direction towards soul, which he explored on his other albums. His 1991 single "Cry for Help" was Astley's last single to reach the Top 10 in either the US or UK. In 1993, he retired from music to focus on spending time with his partner and daughter. He returned to the music industry in 2000 and released 50 to celebrate his 50th birthday in 2016, with the album debuting in the UK at No. 1. His most recent studio album Are We There Yet? was released in 2023. In 2021 and 2023, Astley performed several acclaimed concerts of Smiths covers with the band Blossoms.
As of 2007, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide. He became an internet phenomenon in 2007 following the emergence of the Rickrolling meme, which uses the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up", and his career was revitalised by the meme's popularity. He was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008. "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached 1 billion views on YouTube in July 2021 (the fourth 1980s song to reach this milestone). He has worked as a radio DJ and a podcaster.
Astley joined on October 24, 2009, through VEVO, then uploaded his first single in 17 years "Lights Out". Then he uploaded his second video on his personal channel on February 1, 2015, which was uploaded a few years after the channel uploaded his first video. VEVO transferred all of his music videos on his VEVO channel sometime in 2021.
Trivia[]
- His song Never Gonna Give You Up got popular after a phenomenon started, which was called "rickrolling". It got so popular that the song has now reached 2 billion+ views on YouTube.[1]
- Rick's second most viewed song Together Forever, which is from the same album of Never Gonna Give You Up, Whenever You Need Somebody, is the second most popular video on his channel. It is considered "the secret ending to Rickrolling".
- Despite being known among current generations for his song Never Gonna Give You Up, he is not a one-hit wonder as some people might think, as his aforementioned songs were also hits. The thing is that Never Gonna Give You Up has amassed extended fame thanks to the rickrolling meme.
- During JackSucksAtLife's journey to having four million subscribers, he declared a subscriber battle with Astley. In result, Jack won the war.[2]
References[]
