Rick Astley

Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Never Gonna Give You Up", "Together Forever" and "Whenever You Need Somebody", and returned to music full-time in the 2000s.

Wielding a rich, deep voice, Rick Astley became an overnight sensation in the late '80s with his well-crafted dance-pop. Astley was discovered by producer Pete Waterman in 1985, when the Merseyside native was singing in the English soul band FBI. After that, Waterman's production team Stock Aitken Waterman took Astley under their wing, writing and producing such impeccably crafted pop singles as "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Together Forever." After two hugely successful albums in the U.S. and the U.K., Astley severed his connections with the Stock Aitken Waterman team; he resurfaced in 1991 with the soul-injected Free, which contained the Top 10 hit "Cry for Help."

Astley retired from music for a time, only to return in the 2000s with several new releases, including 2005's Portrait. He also became the subject of "Rickrolling," an Internet phenomenon involving the video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" and a series of bait and switch tactics. During the 2010s, Astley remained in the public eye via touring and with a stint as a DJ for London's Magic FM, but didn't release any new music until 2016's 50, which was named after and inspired by the singer's milestone birthday. The album was well-received among fans and with it, Astley found himself in the middle of a new creative streak which led to him spending more time in his home studio. He spent most of 2017 writing new material and eventually found himself with a new album on his hands. The record, Beautiful Life, was released in the summer of 2018. The following year, Astley looked back at his career with the handpicked collection The Best of Me. Included is a pianoforte reimagining of the song that kickstarted his career back in 1987; "Never Gonna Give You Up."

His song "Never Gonna Give You Up" is featured in the video "Completing the Mission Sneak Peek and Update" made by PuffballsUnited, a disguised rickroll featuring the Subsonic Wave fail from the Special BROvert Ops route.

History
Born and raised in Lancashire, Astley became a musician after leaving school, as the drummer for the soul band FBI. Three years later, he rose to fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman; releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15.2 million copies worldwide. The lead single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. His 1988 single "Together Forever" became his second single to top the US Billboard Hot 100, and was one of his eight songs to reach the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. The title track was a No 1 single in seven countries, and it reached No 3 in the UK. In 1988, Astley followed-up his debut album with Hold Me In Your Arms. The lead single "She Wants to Dance with Me" was Astley's first single that he wrote himself, and became a worldwide top 10 hit.

In 1991, Astley left Stoke Aitken Waterman and moved his musical direction away from dance-pop and towards soul, which he explored on his albums Free (1991) and Body and Soul (1993). His 1991 single "Cry for Help" was Astley's last single to reach the top 10 in either the US or UK. From 1994 to 2000, Astley retired from music to focus on spending time with his wife and raising their daughter. He returned to the music industry in 2001, and released the single "Sleeping" and the album Keep It Turned On. Four years later, Astley released his covers album Portrait.

Astley became an Internet phenomenon in 2007 when the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became integral to the Rickrolling meme, and his performance career was revitalised by the meme's popularity. In 2010, Astley released the single "Lights Out" after touring with Peter Kay. Six years later, he released his album 50 to celebrate his 50th birthday, which debuted in the UK at No. 1. He released his most recent studio album Beautiful Life in 2018, and released his greatest hits album The Best of Me in 2019. His most recent albums were recorded at his home studio in Surrey.

By the time of his brief retirement, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide. A year after the Rickrolling meme began, Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008. His song "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached 1 billion views in July 2021, becoming the fourth 1980s song to reach this milestone (behind "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Take On Me" by A-ha and "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses).

Rickrolling
In 2007, Astley became the subject of a viral Internet meme known as rickrolling. The meme is a type of bait and switch using a disguised hyperlink that leads to the music video. When victims click on a seemingly unrelated link, the site with the music video loads instead of what was expected, and in doing so they are said to have been "Rickrolled". The meme has also extended to using the song's lyrics in unexpected places. The meme gained mainstream attention in 2008 through several publicized events, particularly when YouTube used it on its 2008 April Fools' Day event. Rickrolling saw a massive resurgence online in the early 2020s. In online classes on Zoom during the worldwide COVID-19 lockdown, students often rickrolled their classmates and teachers. A 4K remaster of the "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video went viral in early 2021.

Initially, Astley, who had only recently returned to performing after a 10-year hiatus, was hesitant about using his newfound popularity from the meme to further his career, but accepted the fame when he Rickrolled the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a surprise performance of the song. Since then, Astley has seen his performance career revitalised by the meme's popularity. In an interview, Astley stated that one of his favourite Rickroll videos is "BarackRoll", a rickroll featuring clips from rallies by Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign, edited to make it look as though he is singing "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Astley himself has been rickrolled a few times; in fact, the first time he was rickrolled actually pre-dated the viral phenomenon. In an interview with Larry King, Astley stated that the first time he fell for the prank was through an email his friend sent him during the early 2000s. On a Reddit post in June 2020, a user claimed to have met Astley backstage when they were 12 years old, but the user posted a link to the song instead of a picture verifying the encounter. Astley later confirmed he had been tricked into clicking the link. The post became the most upvoted post of 2020 on Reddit.

Discography

 * Whenever You Need Somebody (1987)
 * Hold Me in Your Arms (1988)
 * Free (1991)
 * Body & Soul (1993)
 * Keep It Turned On (2001)
 * Portrait (2005)
 * 50 (2016)
 * Beautiful Life (2018)