Richard Paul Astley was born on 6 February 1966 and is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades.
53 Facts About Rick Astley
2.
Rick Astley returned to music full-time in the 2000s after a 6-year hiatus.
3.
Outside his music career, Rick Astley has occasionally worked as a radio DJ and a podcaster.
4.
Rick Astley's debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single.
5.
In 1991, Rick Astley left Stock Aitken Waterman and moved his musical direction away from dance-pop and towards soul, which he explored on his albums Free and Body and Soul.
6.
In 1993, Rick Astley retired from music to focus on spending time with his then-partner and raising their daughter.
7.
Rick Astley returned to the music industry in 2000, and released the single "Sleeping" and the album Keep It Turned On in 2001.
8.
In 2010, Rick Astley released the single "Lights Out" after touring with Peter Kay.
9.
Rick Astley released his most recent studio album Beautiful Life in 2018, and released his greatest hits album The Best of Me in 2019.
10.
Rick Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire, the fourth child of his family.
11.
Rick Astley's parents divorced when he was five and Astley was brought up by his father Horace Astley.
12.
Rick Astley remained in very close contact with his mother Cynthia Rick Astley, who lived a few streets away from his father.
13.
When he was 10 years old, Rick Astley began singing in a local church choir, which began his love of music.
14.
In 1985, Rick Astley was performing as a drummer with a soul band named FBI, with Morris on guitar.
15.
When FBI's lead singer left the band, and Morris left to concentrate on his career in hairdressing, Rick Astley offered to be the lead vocalist.
16.
Under the tutelage of the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman, Rick Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the recording studio "tea boy".
17.
The reason for Rick Astley to be hired as a "tape op" was to overcome his shyness.
18.
In November 1987, the album Whenever You Need Somebody, containing four tracks written by Rick Astley, reached number one in the UK and Australia and No 10 in the US.
19.
Whenever You Need Somebody sold 15.2 million copies worldwide, making Rick Astley the top-selling British act of the year.
20.
In December 1987, Rick Astley released a cover version of the Nat King Cole classic "When I Fall in Love".
21.
The B side for Rick Astley was a dance number, "My Arms Keep Missing You", which was successful in mainland Europe but wasn't released on an album until the 2002 compilation Greatest Hits.
22.
In 1989 Rick Astley was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist but lost to Tracy Chapman.
23.
Rick Astley composed the track in the style of Whitney Houston's hit, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody " in an effort to win the confidence of Waterman, who was a huge fan of Houston's song.
24.
In December 1989, Rick Astley set off on his first world tour, touring 15 countries including the UK, US, Australia, and Japan.
25.
Rick Astley left Stock Aitken Waterman and RCA Records bought out his contract with PWL.
26.
Rick Astley achieved one more major success with his 1991 ballad "Cry for Help", which reached No 7 in both the UK and the US.
27.
Rick Astley retired from the music industry in 1993, deciding that family life was more important.
28.
For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Rick Astley remained out of the spotlight.
29.
Rick Astley later said this was due to his growing frustration with the business side of things.
30.
Seven years after Body and Soul, Rick Astley returned to the music industry, signing a co-publishing deal with Polydor and recording a new album, Keep It Turned On, between November 2000 and September 2001, and released in late 2001.
31.
In 2004, Rick Astley toured for the first time in 14 years, which led him to a record contract with Sony BMG.
32.
In September 2008, Rick Astley was nominated for the 'Best Act Ever' award at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
33.
Rick Astley was a special guest throughout Peter Kay's new tour, The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour.
34.
In December 2010, Rick Astley co-hosted the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 with Peter Kay, and in March 2011 appeared in Comic Relief's Red Nose Day telethon on the BBC.
35.
On 1 June 2018, Rick Astley posted a video on Twitter announcing his upcoming album Beautiful Life set for release on 20 July.
36.
In 2019, Rick Astley served as the support act on Take That's Greatest Hits Live 38-date tour in Britain and Ireland.
37.
Rick Astley is an occasional guest vocalist at Foo Fighters concerts, and has previously performed with A-ha and Kylie Minogue.
38.
On 12 October 2019, Rick Astley appeared on CBeebies Bedtime Stories.
39.
On 25 October 2019, Rick Astley released a new album, The Best of Me, which includes some of his original tracks, some reimagined versions of his existing songs, and the new single "Every One of Us".
40.
Around this time, Rick Astley made a TikTok account, launching it with a video of him dancing to "Never Gonna Give You Up" which received millions of views.
41.
On 30 November 2020, Rick Astley released a single, "Love This Christmas", the video featuring Rick Astley performing amid a flurry of snow and dancing snowmen.
42.
On 16 March 2021, Rick Astley recorded a cover of the Temptations song "My Girl".
43.
On 7 April 2021, Rick Astley released a single, "Unwanted", inspired by the era and vibes of the original podcast.
44.
On 2 September 2021, amid the news that ABBA have reunited, Rick Astley released a cover of their song "The Winner Takes It All".
45.
On 14 September 2021, Rick Astley announced he would be collaborating with the indie band Blossoms to perform songs by The Smiths.
46.
In 2007, Astley became the subject of a viral Internet meme known as rickrolling.
47.
Since then, Rick Astley has seen his performance career revitalised by the meme's popularity.
48.
Rick Astley has been married to film producer Lene Bausager since 2003.
49.
Rick Astley met Bausager when she was working as a promoter with RCA in 1987, and she is a film producer.
50.
Rick Astley maintains a home recording studio and has a collection of guitars.
51.
Rick Astley is of no relation to music producer Jon Astley.
52.
In January 2023, Rick Astley sued Yung Gravy over vocal imitations on Gravy's song "Betty ".
53.
Rick Astley asserts that it is a violation of his "right of publicity".