About Rick Astley
Richard Paul Astley is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. 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 and was certified Platinum by both the BPI and the RIAA. His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a No. 1 hit in over 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. The song also stayed at the top of the UK chart for five weeks in 1987 and was the best-selling single of that year. 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.
Astley has sold approximately 40 million records worldwide and was nominated in 1989 for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist but lost to Tracy Chapman. During the period between his debut release and his fifth single, Astley outsold every other artist in the world. In the United Kingdom, Astley was also in the Top 40 every week for the first six months of his career. He became an internet phenomenon in 2007 following the emergence of the Rickrolling meme, which utilizes the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up", and his career was revitalised by the meme's popularity. A year after the Rickrolling meme began, he was voted "Best Act Ever" at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008. On 28 July 2021, "Never Gonna Give You Up" became the fourth 1980s song to reach one billion views on YouTube.
Richard Paul Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, the fourth child of Horace and Cynthia Astley. His parents divorced when he was 5 and Astley was brought up by his father who was "really, really pissed off a lot of the time... but he was great as well, he was really loving". Rick remained in very close contact with his mother, who lived a few streets away. Describing his childhood, Astley stated "There was definitely an element of 'There's something very wrong in this family.' I can't even say I've got these exact memories of it, I just know it was a bit odd."
Astley would also later recall that his worst childhood memory was "Walking in the kitchen and seeing my dad with his hands around my mum's neck. After something like that, things get broken and destroyed in your emotional and mental make-up. It was not Walt Disney; it was not what's supposed to happen. Shouting and arguing is bad enough, but for me something that day. Everything about it terrified me and just completely flipped me out. No kid should ever see that." In an interview ahead of the publication of his autobiography, Astley said "I think it did form me as a person, definitely, and formed a lot of my choices of why I went into music and why I wanted to be on a stage and why I wanted people's attention – because I don't think I got enough attention from my parents."
When he was 10, Astley began singing in a local church choir, which began his love of music. During his schooldays, Astley played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris. After leaving school at 16, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as Give Way – specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs – and FBI, which won several local talent competitions.
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