Whatever Happened to Rick Astley?
Perhaps no singer has dominated pop culture in such a unique way as Rick Astley. He burst on the scene in 1987 with his love-it-or-hate-it dance single “Never Gonna Give You Up,” retired a millionaire six years later, and then found a second career as an Internet joke in 2007—one that still permeates the world today. How did that happen, and whatever happened to Rick Astley?
Rick Astley Finds Fame at 21
His follow-up single in the United States, which sounded exactly like the first song right down to the electronic drum beat, was “Together Forever,” and it was his second Number 1 hit there.
He switched to an R&B sound in the early 1990s, and his song “Cry for Help” hit the Top 10. But the sensation had worn off by then, and his next album, a more grown-up contemporary release, Body & Soul, yielded only one Top 30 hit. He retired that same year at the tender age of 27, having amassed a small fortune from his dance songs.
He returned to recording in 2001; by this time, his 1987 hits had aged as well as a glass of milk, and his 2001 and 2005 albums didn’t chart in the United States.
Then the Rickroll hit.
An Internet Sensation
In fact, it spread like wildfire.
In February 2008, during Anonymous’ protests against the Church of Scientology, the song was played from boomboxes, performed, and shouted ad nauseum. By April 1, 2008—roughly one year after the first prank—YouTube got in on the joke and redirected every featured video on its front page to the music video.
By then, an estimated 18 million people had been “Rickrolled,” as the term became known to be. Astley’s career blossomed again; in November 2008, he was nominated for “Best Act Ever” at the MTV Europe Music Awards after fans bombarded the online nomination form. He won in a landslide.
Astley became a radio celebrity in the UK, hosting several shows over the next few years. He released the album 50 in 2016 and Beautiful Life in 2018, both of which hit the UK Top 10. His latest compilation, The Best of Me, also went Top 10.
Astley popped up again in pop culture in 2016 when Melania Trump seemed to quote lyrics from “Never Gonna Give You Up” during a speech at the Republican National Convention, saying of her husband, “He will never, ever give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever let you down.” Plagiarism or Rickrolling? “There’s still a part of me that’s not 100 percent sure that’s what she was doing,” he told Rolling Stone.
What does Rick Astley look like now?
At 54, Rick Astley still looks like he did when he was in his teens— like he’s 41 years old. He lives in the UK with his wife, film producer Lene Bausager, and they have one daughter.
In case you missed it above, here it is again.
This is one of the few times you & I disagree. I thought Rick Astley was ghastly.
And I thought he was black. You learn something new every day!
Haha! By no means did I ever like Rick Astley or his songs. These pieces are designed to be biographical and fact-based, with very little editorializing. I just answer the question, whatever happened to them?