"Never Gonna Give You Up" | ||||
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Single by Rick Astley | ||||
from the album Whenever You Need Somebody | ||||
Released | 27 July 1987 [1] | |||
Recorded | October 1986 [2] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Producer(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Rick Astley singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"Never Gonna Give You Up" This file has been proposed for deletion and may be deleted after Tuesday, 17 December 2024. Click on file page link to object. | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Never Gonna Give You Up" on YouTube |
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a pop song by English singer Rick Astley,released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley's most popular,as well as his signature song,and it is often played at the end of his live concerts. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman,it was released by RCA Records as the first single from Astley's debut studio album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987),with a music video directed by Simon West.
The song became a worldwide hit,initially in the United Kingdom in 1987,where it stayed at the top of the chart for five weeks and was the best-selling single of that year. It eventually topped charts in 25 different countries,including the US and West Germany, [7] and winning Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards.
The video resurged in popularity in 2007 due to the bait-and-switch "Rickroll" Internet meme. In 2008,Astley won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Act Ever with the song,as a result of a collective campaign by thousands of people on the Internet. [8] In 2019,Astley recorded and released a new 'Pianoforte' arrangement of the song for his album The Best of Me . [9] In 2023, Billboard magazine ranked "Never Gonna Give You Up" among the 500 best pop songs of all time. [5]
"Never Gonna Give You Up" was recorded at PWL Studios in South London,England. The song's basslines were produced using a Yamaha DX7 digital synthesizer,while a Linn 9000 was used for the drums and sequencing. Other equipment used included a Roland Juno 106 analog synthesizer,and Yamaha Rev5 and Rev7 reverberators. [10]
Mike Stock stated that the Colonel Abrams hit "Trapped" (1985) was a big influence on "Never Gonna Give You Up",saying:"For Rick Astley's song I didn't want it to sound like Kylie or Bananarama so I looked at the Colonel Abrams track 'Trapped' and recreated that syncopated bassline in a way that suited our song." [11]
The title and concept for the song were suggested by Pete Waterman after Astley spoke to him of his devotion to his then girlfriend,with the song's tune,chords and lyrics then composed by Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. [12] Initial mixing was done by Phil Harding,with the song's distinctive synthetic string and brass lines later added by Fairlight operator Ian Curnow. [12] The final mix was provided by PWL remixer Pete Hammond,who made the vocals more prominent. His completed extended mix was edited down by Stock and Aitken to become the radio version. [12]
The music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" was directed by Simon West. It was filmed in London,largely around Freston Road in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. [13] Since being uploaded to YouTube on 25 October 2009,the video has received over 1.5 billion views and 17 million likes;it surpassed the 1 billion views milestone on 28 July 2021. [14] [15]
A review in Pan-European magazine Music &Media presented "Never Gonna Give You Up" as a "carefree and cheerful pop ditty,sung with that youthful,muscular voice". [16]
On 12 March 1988,"Never Gonna Give You Up" reached number one in the American Billboard Hot 100 chart [17] after having been played by resident DJ,Larry Levan,at the Paradise Garage in 1987. [18] The single topped the charts in 25 countries worldwide. [7] The single also reached the number 1 spot on the year-end singles charts in the UK and South Africa. [19] [20] With over one million sales in the UK,in 2023 it was included on the Official Charts Company's list of the UK's best-selling singles of all time at number 164. [21]
The track was producers Stock Aitken Waterman's biggest and most enduring hit. Composer Mike Stock confessed he struggled to completely understand why the song had struck such a chord,but suggested its massive success was down to a combination of the song,the singer,and the international clout of record label RCA. [12]
The song was reportedly played as part of Operation Nifty Package,a psychological warfare campaign to convince Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to surrender during the United States invasion of Panama in 1989, [22] along with other songs such as the Clash's cover of "I Fought the Law" and "Panama" by Van Halen. [23] The Emmy Award-winning sitcom Ted Lasso featured the song prominently in the season two episode "No Weddings and a Funeral",including a scene where Rebecca Welton (played by Hannah Waddingham) begins to sing it in the middle of her father's funeral. Astley himself commented of the episode,"Waddingham...did an amazing,incredible job. It was so emotional,so moving,so incredible. People have said they even cried (during) the church scene." [24]
In August 2022,the CSAA Insurance Group,an insurer for the American Automobile Association,released a commercial featuring Rick Astley,with scenes recreated from the original "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video. [25] Yung Gravy's 2022 song "Betty (Get Money)" prominently interpolates "Never Gonna Give You Up"'s synthesizer riff and chorus,with Stock Aitken Waterman credited as songwriters. [26] Although Astley agreed to license the music and lyrics,he never authorized Gravy to directly copy his voice. On January 26,2023,Astley filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court,objecting to Gravy's use of an impersonator to mimic Astley's voice. [27] The case was settled in September 2023. [28]
In 2014,Matt Dunn of WhatCulture ranked the song at number one in his "15 unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman singles" list. [29] Time Out listed "Never Gonna Give You Up" at number 33 in their "The 50 Best '80s Songs" list in 2018,adding,"Those synthesized strings,that thumping boots-and-pants beat,Astley's weirdly robust croon and his romantic-wooing-as-used-car-salesman pitch ('You wouldn't get this from any other guy')…It all adds up to three-and-a-half of the most effervescent minutes in the '80s canon." [30] In April 2020, The Guardian ranked it at number 44 in their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1s". [31] Classic Pop ranked the song number four in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman Songs" in 2021. [32] In October 2023, Billboard magazine ranked "Never Gonna Give You Up" number 244 in their list of "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". [5] In 2023,Alexis Petridis of The Guardian listed the song at number two in his "Stock Aitken Waterman's 20 greatest songs –ranked!",describing it "a brilliantly written song". [33]
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is the subject of an Internet meme known as "rickrolling" involving misleading links (commonly shortened URLs) redirecting to the song's music video. [34] Started by users on 4chan,the practice had by May 2007 achieved notoriety on the Internet. It increased in popularity after its use as a 2008 April Fools' Day joke by various media companies and websites—including YouTube,which rickrolled all of its featured videos on that day—allowing people to easily rickroll their friends' devices. [35] "I think it's just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it",Astley told the Los Angeles Times in late March 2008. "That's what's brilliant about the Internet." [36]
Astley appeared in the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,interrupting a song performed by those on a float promoting the Cartoon Network programme Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends with a lipsynched performance of "Never Gonna Give You Up". There were reports that despite the video garnering millions of hits on YouTube,Astley earned almost no money from the online phenomenon,receiving only $12 in royalties from YouTube for his performance share as of August 2010. [37] In 2016,Astley said he never bothered to figure out how much money he earned from YouTube and said that he had also been paid "a chunk of money" by Virgin to appear in a commercial and for his appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. [38]
7" single
12" maxi
12" maxi
12" single
On 29 July 2021,to celebrate 1 billion views on YouTube,Rick Astley released a limited and numbered 7" blue vinyl. Only 2,500 were signed and sold. [39] [40]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
All-time charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [41] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [88] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [89] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [90] | Silver | 250,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [91] | Gold | 500,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) [92] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [93] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Sweden (GLF) [94] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [95] Physical release | Gold | 766,000 [96] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [97] Digital release | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [98] | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Stock Aitken Waterman are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time by the Guinness World Records, scoring more than 100 UK Top 40 hits and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties. The trio had thirteen UK No. 1 singles including three consecutive UK No. 1's and three US No. 1 singles. They also had at least one record in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart every week between March 1986 and October 1990.
Richard Paul Astley is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15 million copies worldwide and was certified Platinum by both the BPI and the RIAA. His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a No. 1 hit in over 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. The song also stayed at the top of the UK chart for five weeks in 1987 and was the best-selling single of that year. His 1988 single "Together Forever" also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and was one of his eight songs to reach the UK Singles Chart Top 10.
"I Should Be So Lucky" is a 1987 song performed by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album, Kylie (1988). Released on 29 December 1987 by Mushroom Records and PWL Records, the song became a worldwide breakthrough hit. The image of Minogue on the front cover of the single was shot by David Levine. The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman for Minogue, whom went on to produce Minogue's initial four studio albums.
"Together Forever" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley and released by RCA and BMG as the fourth single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987). The song reached number two in the United Kingdom, behind Neighbours star and fellow Stock Aitken Waterman artist Kylie Minogue's debut single "I Should Be So Lucky". The single was a worldwide hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 18 June 1988, becoming Astley's second US chart-topper. It also topped the charts in Canada, Ireland and Spain, and was a top ten hits in many European countries.
"Love in the First Degree" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987). It was released on 21 September 1987 as the album's second single, except in the United States, where it was released in 1988 as the third single. The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. It achieved major success in the UK and Australia, and also peaked within the top 20 in many European countries, but, unlike "I Heard a Rumour", it reached only the lower end of the top 50 in the US.
Whenever You Need Somebody is the debut studio album by English singer Rick Astley, released on 16 November 1987 by RCA Records. It is his highest-selling album and has sold 15.2 million copies worldwide. The album is listed as the 136th best-selling album in Spain and was the seventh best-selling album of 1987 in the United Kingdom. A remastered version, containing rare remixes and extended versions, was released on 12 April 2010.
The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in 1987 by Stylus Records in association with PWL Records. The collection brought together some the biggest hits by British production team Stock Aitken Waterman. It reached #18 in the UK Top 100 Album Chart and achieved a Gold BPI award.
A Ton of Hits : The Very Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in the UK in November 1990 bringing together the hits of Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) in a continuously sequenced mix. It was released by Chrysalis Records on their subsidiary label Dover Records and followed the previous "Best of Stock Aitken Waterman" collections; The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman, The Hit Factory Volume 2 and The Hit Factory Volume 3. The album reached #7 in the compilation Top 20. Notably absent from this release are Bananarama and Dead or Alive, presumably due to licensing issues, whilst including nine songs by Jason Donovan, and ten by Kylie Minogue.
Stock Aitken Waterman Gold is a compilation album released in 2005 by Sony BMG, PWL Records and EBUL.
"Whenever You Need Somebody" is a song written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, which became successful for two of their artists, namely O'Chi Brown and Rick Astley.
Rickrolling or a Rickroll is an Internet meme involving the unexpected appearance of the music video to the 1987 hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up", performed by English singer Rick Astley. The aforementioned video has over 1.5 billion views on YouTube. The meme is a type of bait and switch, usually using a disguised hyperlink that leads to the music video. When someone clicks on a seemingly unrelated link, the site with the music video loads instead of what was expected, and they have been "Rickrolled". The meme has also extended to using the song's lyrics, or singing it, in unexpected contexts. Astley himself has also been Rickrolled on several occasions.
Hold Me in Your Arms is the second studio album by English singer Rick Astley, released on 26 November 1988 by RCA Records. It is the follow-up to his successful debut album Whenever You Need Somebody, and was his last album produced and written with the Stock Aitken Waterman team. It helped to continue Astley's commercial success, with it achieving Platinum and Gold certifications worldwide and three of the five singles from the album becoming Top 10 hits in the United Kingdom.
Greatest Hits is a compilation by English singer Rick Astley released in the UK in 2002 and in the US a year later. While the American version features alternate mixes focused between 1987 and 1991, the European version features hits up to his 2002 album Keep It Turned On. It sold over 100,000 copies in the UK and was certified gold by the BPI. The UK release saw the debut appearance of Astley's 2001 single "Sleeping", thus making it a brand-new track for listeners.
"Trapped" is a song by American musician Colonel Abrams, released in 1985 as the first single from his first album Colonel Abrams. It has since become known as Abrams' signature song and still receives airplay on dance radio stations in the UK and the US.
The discography of English singer and songwriter Rick Astley consists of nine studio albums, five compilation albums, two remix albums, and twenty-four singles.
"Take Me to Your Heart" is a 1988 song recorded by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, the song was released the same year as the second single from the album, Hold Me in Your Arms. Not released in North America, it was a success on the UK Singles Chart where it peaked at number 8 and was also a top ten and a top 20 in many European other countries. Celebrating the announcement of the Hold Me in Your Arms remastered edition studio album, the music video has been upgraded to 4K as of 14 April 2023. The single was also reissued as a digital EP on the same day.
"Shattered Glass" is a song written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe which was originally recorded in 1980 by Scottish singer Ellie Warren. The song was recorded in 1987 by American singer Laura Branigan with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team to serve as the lead single from Branigan's fifth studio album, Touch (1987).
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" is a song performed by British singer Samantha Fox and written and produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman (SAW). It was released as the first single from Samantha’s eponymous second album, Samantha Fox, in the spring of 1987. The single became Fox's third and final top ten single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number eight in June. In the United States, the single was released in the fall of 1987 and reached only number 80 that October. It was a top 10 hit in continental Europe and also reached number 22 in Australia.
"She Wants to Dance with Me" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley, released as the lead single from his second studio album, Hold Me in Your Arms (1988). The song was released in United Kingdom on September 12, 1988 by RCA, and became an international success, peaking in the top ten in many countries, including Canada, where it topped the chart, and the US and the UK, where it reached number six. In 2019, Astley recorded and released a "reimagined" version of the song for his album The Best of Me.
"Betty (Get Money)", also referred to as just "Betty", is a song by American rapper Yung Gravy, released through Republic Records on June 10, 2022, as the lead single from his third studio album, Marvelous. It was written by Yung Gravy and produced by Nick Seeley, Dillon Francis and Dwilly, along with the credit for its prominent interpolation of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". The song and its music video, featuring Yung Gravy dancing in a white fur coat, went viral on TikTok shortly after its release, being used in over 300,000 videos.
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