Rick Astley

Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer.

Richard Paul Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, the fourth child of his family.

His parents divorced when he was five and Astley was brought up by his father Horace Astley.

Rick remained in very close contact with his mother Cynthia Astley, who lived a few streets away from his father.

After finding out that his father was the one who kicked his mother out of the house, Rick distanced himself from his father.

When he was 10 years old, he began singing in a local church choir, which began his love of music.

During his schooldays, Rick Astley formed and played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris.

After leaving school at sixteen, 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.

In 1985, Astley was performing as a drummer with a soul band named FBI, with Morris on guitar.

They were a well-known local band writing and performing their own music, gigging in pubs and clubs.

When FBI's lead singer left the band, and Morris left to concentrate on his career in hairdressing, Astley offered to be the lead vocalist.

That was when he was noticed by the record producer Pete Waterman, who persuaded him to come to London to work at the Pete Waterman Limited (PWL) recording studio with RCA Records publishing his records.

Under the tutelage of the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the recording studio "tea boy".

The reason for Astley to be hired as a "tape op" was to overcome his shyness.

SAW also hired most of FBI, including Morris as a guitarist/songwriter.

His first single was "When You Gonna", released as a collaboration with Lisa Fabien, and was produced by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow.

"We were at a stage early on with Rick, when no one knew quite what to do with him," recalled Harding.

"The idea was to make him happen in the clubs... [but the song] opened up the doors for him at Capital Radio."

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.

The song was released in May 1987, and with no promotion managed to chart at No. 17 in the Netherlands and No. 20 in Belgium.

Astley's first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", recorded on New Year's Day 1987, and released eight months later, in August.

Although his producers were initially unenthusiastic about the track, his distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance-pop made the song an immediate success, spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single.

The song was also a worldwide number-one hit, topping the charts in 24 other countries, including the US, Australia, and West Germany.

It was the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 hit singles for him.

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" became his second song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 and was one of his eight songs to reach the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart.

The title track, "Whenever You Need Somebody", was also a No. 1 hit.

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.

"Never Gonna Give You Up" won Best British Single at the 1988 BPI awards (now called the BRIT Awards), and he performed it in front of a global audience of 100 million.

Astley's next single was "Whenever You Need Somebody", which was released in October.

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.

By the time of his brief retirement, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.

He 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.

A year after the Rickrolling meme began, he 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 on YouTube in July 2021, becoming the fourth 1980s song to reach this milestone.

Astley has occasionally worked as a radio DJ and a podcaster.