Rick Astley: ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’

Back in 1987 Rick Astley became an overnight success with the smash hit, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, and by 1993 he had sold over 40 million records worldwide. Rick Astley can be booked to perform through London based booking agency, MN2S.

Astley was born in Lancashire, and started his musical career at 10 years old, with humble beginnings singing in the local church choir. Later on, while at school, he played drums in several bands and met the local guitarist David Morris. After leaving school at 16, he worked as a driver for his father’s market gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit in bands such as Give Way and FBI.

Astley’s big break came in 1985, with the band FBI – after the lead singer left the band and guitarist Morris left to concentrate on a career in hairdressing, Astley left his drummer seat and became lead singer of the group, and was spotted by Pete Waterman who persuaded him to work at PWL recording studio for RCA Records. His early years in the studio were spent being the “tea boy” as he was prepared for his future career as a singer by Waterman, Mike Stock and Matt Aitken.

After little success with his first release, a duet with Lisa Carter ‘When You Gonna’, his next release was the now infamous ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. The song was recorded on New Year’s Day but not released until eight months later in August 1987 when it went straight to the top of the British charts and became the year’s highest selling single. The song was a worldwide hit, reaching number 1 in 24 countries, including the US, Australia and Germany, and won Best British single at the 1988 BPI Awards (now known as the Brits), where he performed the track in front of a global audience of 100 million.

His next single, ‘Whenever You Need Somebody’, originally recorded by O’Chi Brown, was another success, reaching number 1 in seven countries in Europe and number 3 in the UK. An album of the same name was released in 1987 and hit number 1 in the UK and Australia and number 10 in the US. Containing four tracks written by Rick Astley himself, the record went on to go 4x Platinum in the UK and Canada and 2x Platinum in the USA, selling over 15 million copies worldwide.

Further singles from the album included a cover of the Nat King Cole tune ‘When I Fall in Love’, which was involved in a fierce battle for the 1987 Christmas number 1 spot. Rivals EMI, however, were keen for the new Pet Shop Boys release to reach top spot, and so tactically re-released the Nat King Cole original which succeeded in slowing down sales of the Astley version, leaving it to peak at number 2.
The single ‘Together Forever’ also did well upon release in 1988, reaching number 2 in the UK charts, denied the top spot by Kylie Minogue’s ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ but hit number 1 across the Atlantic, making Astley one of few British artists to reach significant success in the American market. The final single from the album was ‘It Would Take a Strong Man’, which was unreleased in the UK but charted at 10 in the US and was number 1 in Canada.

After the album’s release, Astley received negative attention from the British media, who claimed he was little more than a puppet of Stock Aitken Waterman, despite Astley having penned some of the material himself, and, after a world tour in 1989, Astley left Stock Aitken Waterman to release more soul oriented music. His 1991 album ‘Free’ included a collaboration with Elton John and was successful in both the US and the UK, but by the time he released the album ‘Body and Soul’ in 1993 he had retired from the music industry and spent many out of the public spotlight.

However, Astley returned to music in 2002 and released new material as well as touring all over the world, still a popular figure in a number of countries. Rick Astley is available for booking at event through MN2S Music Booking Agency.