Rick Astley has said he remains deeply thankful for his signature hit Never Gonna Give You Up, and has long accepted that it will be the song most people forever associate with his name.
The 59 year old artist dominated charts around the globe with the 1987 release, which was written and produced by pop hitmakers Stock Aitken Waterman and featured on his debut album Whenever You Need Somebody, which went on to sell around 15 million copies worldwide.
Nearly four decades on, Never Gonna Give You Up continues to enjoy heavy rotation on radio and across digital platforms thanks to the enduring Rickrolling meme, and Rick says he is completely at peace with that legacy and grateful the song has stood the test of time.
Speaking to Classic Pop magazine, he said: “I mean, God bless that song. From the first time that Mike Stock sang it to me, I knew it was a banger. I've always felt that song's got stardust on it. I've always felt that song's got fairydust on it. I've never been embarrassed by it. But it was also strange, that record being so big off the bat. I never had the opportunity to go, ‘What's going on?’ I went from never having been on TV to being on TV every day, travelling all over the world.”
While he has made peace with the fact that Never Gonna Give You Up will likely define his career, Rick admits he would love to see more recognition given to some of his other chart successes.
He added: “I'm painfully aware that this song, that I did decades ago, is the thing that people are always going to remember me for, and I came to terms with that years ago. I just wish they'd always remember me for four or five other songs. Together Forever was also number one in the United States, but people never bring that one up.”
The Rickrolling trend first appeared online in 2007 and exploded the following year, with the unexpected resurgence of Rick’s music video helping push Never Gonna Give You Up past one billion views on YouTube.
Rather than resist the viral moment, Rick chose to lean into it, recognising that the phenomenon had already taken on a life of its own.
He explained: “It was happening anyway, you couldn't stop it. So I thought, ‘Whatever, I'll run with this.’”
A few years later, Rick returned with his first studio album in more than a decade, titled 50.
Released to coincide with his 50th birthday, the record topped the Official UK Albums Chart and marked the beginning of an unexpected career revival, which Rick has since described as feeling almost magical.
Astley, who wrote every track and played all the instruments on the album, said: “I didn't make it for a record label, or even to be heard, really. I was making it for me. So the fact it was so successful ... it was kind of like a fairy tale.”
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