Rick Astley

Richard Paul Astley born 6 February 1966 is an English singer songwriter 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 more than 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 bestselling 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 and moved his musical direction towards soul which he explored on his other albums His 1991 single Cry for Help was his 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 memes 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 NewtonleWillows 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 Theres something very wrong in this family I cant even say Ive got these exact memories of it I just know it was a bit odd Source Article Rick Astley from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA