Born on February 6: Rick Astley and "Never Gonna Give You Up", the hit that became an Internet

Rick Astley was born in 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, England. It was first within a local group that, as a teenager, he learned his trade as a drummer! 

He then became the singer of the soul group FBI, in 1984. He was spotted by a producer and recorded his first song three years later, "Learning To Love". However, he would have to wait for the famous "Never Gonna Give You Up" to really experience success.

His first album "Whenever You Need Somebody" in 1988 (with the omnipotent Stock-Aitken-Waterman already at the helm) sold over a million copies and conquered the USA, where it reigned at the top of the hits, and his native United Kingdom where it squatted the top 10.

In 1991, the singer gave himself the gift of recording his next album "Free" with Elton John!. He thus got rid of the cumbersome rule of Stock-Aitken-Waterman but, unfortunately, it wasn't enough and the album went more or less unnoticed. Rick Astley then decided to end his career and devote himself to his family.

That was without counting, a few years later, on an Internet user who played a somewhat schoolboy joke on his forum friends. He replaced the link dedicated to a video game with the slightly kitsch clip of "Never Gonna Give You Up". In a few days, a real wildfire, his message went viral and even had a name: rickroll. The diffusion of this old clip, taken from the YouTube archives, became global and haunted those who clicked on the links, the song resonating in their minds for a long time. The same phenomenon for the cover of the French 2 Be 3 ("Toujours là pour toi") which made many fans dance in the 90s.

An unexpected comeback for Rick Astley, who took advantage of this new wave to release a new album, "Lights Out". In 2016, he celebrated his 50th birthday with an unreleased opus, simply titled "50" and the top of the charts was once again within reach.

In 2023, the singer released a new album, "Are We There Yet?" (soul as classy as it is timeless), as well as his autobiography, "Never", in which he confides about his difficult childhood. Today, the video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" has reached more than a billion views. Quite a feat for an old song that a buzz has made eternal!

(Céline Massart - Tr.: MH - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Portrait of Rick Astley in Knokke (Belgium) on September 7, 1987