Posted on 01/09/2026 3:14:15 PM PST by nickcarraway
Rick Astley will always be grateful for his smash hit single Never Gonna Give You Up — and he has come to terms with the fact it'll be the track he'll always be remembered for.
The 59-year-old singer topped the charts all over the world with the 1987 song, which was written and produced by legendary pop trio Stock Aitken Waterman and included on his 15 million copies selling debut LP Whenever You Need Somebody.
Almost 40 years later, Never Gonna Give You Up remains a constant on the radio and online thanks to the Rickrolling internet meme, but Rick is fine with it and thankful to have had a hit that has endured for so long.
In an interview with the new issue of Classic Pop magazine, he said: "I mean, God bless that song. From the first time that Mike Stock sang it to me, I knew it was a banger. I've always felt that song's got stardust on it. I've always felt that song's got fairydust on it. I've never been embarrassed by it. But it was also strange, that record being so big [straight] off the bat. I never had the opportunity to go, 'What's going on?' I went from never having been on TV to being on TV every day, travelling all over the world."
Although he has accepted that Never Gonna Give You Up is the song that will define his career, Rick does wish that some of his other hits got a little bit of love.
He added: "I'm painfully aware that this song, that I did decades ago, is the thing that people are always going to remember me for, and I came to terms with that years ago. I just wish they'd always remember me for four or five other songs. Together Forever was also number one in the United States, but people never bring that one up."
The Rickrolling phenomenon began in 2007 and peaked in 2008 with the surprise appearance of Rick's music video pushing Never Gonna Give You Up to over a billion views on YouTube.
Rick was happy to embrace the Rickrolling phenomenon as he could see it was already huge and not going away.
He said: "It was happening anyway, you couldn't stop it. So I thought, 'Whatever, I'll run with this.'"
A few years later, Rick released his first album, titled 50, for over 10 years.
The LP — which was released to mark his 50th birthday, hence the title — topped the Official UK Albums Chart and was the start of Rick's career resurgence, something that felt like a "fairy tale" to him.
Rick — who wrote every song and played every instrument on the record — said: "I didn't make it for a record label, or even to be heard, really. I was making it for me. So the fact it was so successful... it was kind of like a fairy tale."
And obviously the music isn't just appreciated for nostalgia, because you see younger people who love it.
He will live in Rick Roll infamy!
Two, actually. Together Forever is pretty good. And also for the unique voice.
Yes, big Lynyrd Skynyrd fan so would love to hear this story….
A long story my friend.
We live in Jacksonville and her dad was a recording engineer and had a studio with his partner here.....came across a band called “The One Percent” liked their sound and asked if they wanted to do some demo recordings.....one of which was the very first time Freebird was ever recorded.
Later, the changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd and MCA scooped them up.
When he passed the rights went to her and the other partner.
What I’ve shared is just the tip of the iceberg on this story I promise you.
True story brother.....every word.
Just do a search for “Shade Tree demos” you’ll find ‘em on YouTube.
Here is Freebird......because it was circa ‘69/’70 the recording quality is what it is.
Enjoy 👍
https://youtu.be/WbRpz3XMdBM?si=DUclkO4HcwW3Mp3l
See post 45 🙂
Well, it they were sending them on YouTube, or something like that, then it counts as a view, whether it’s be listened to sarcastically, or not.
Sorry, forgot to mention, if you look at the description details on the YouTube video you’ll see the producers are Tom Markham and Jim Sutton...Jim Sutton was my wife’s dad.
OK, who here scanned that Q code to see what it was? Come on you can admit it
“You Know the Rules - And So Does He”
😄😂🤣🤣🤣
Apparently he doesn’t own the publishing rights to the song so he’s not making much money from it.
My wife gets a $1k check every year from family mineral rights in Wyoming. Not much, but it beats a poke in the eye with a stick. Like my hearing loss VA stipend. Can’t argue with free money. Free for me anyhow. Thank you, Freepers, for contributing it for me.
I actually like Together Forever more than the other song
Same here, I was listening to Country Music in the '80s.
“beats a poke in the eye with a stick”
Absolutely.....and I bet Rick Astley’s royalties are a hell of a lot more than you or I receive.
Like I said....1st world problems.
Bagster rip used to love Rick rolling us. Lol. It’s not a bad song.
My favorite was “It Would Take a Strong Man (to ever let you go)”. But I did karaoke “Together Forever” once.
I like the fact that he’s at peace with it.
You beat me to it. He should be grateful for that one hit. It is a good one, and there are worse things to be remembered for.
Excellent!!!!!!!!
Reminds me of the inside joke Don McLean made about his 1970s megahit "American Pie". When asked what the song meant, McLean would decline to explain it. Finally, he asked a reporter in the 2000s if he wanted to know the meaning of "American Pie". Thinking he was about to get a scoop, the reporter eagerly agreed.
"It means I never had to write another friggin' song for the rest of my life."
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