Released 1987 | Format 7"12"CD | |
Genre Dance-popblue-eyed soul Length 3:313:35 (album version)3:30 (instrumental version) | ||
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a single by Rick Astley, released in 1987, written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. The song was released as the first single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987). The song was a worldwide number-one hit, initially in the singer's native 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 the charts in 25 countries, including the United States and West Germany.
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The song won Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards. In 2004, it was voted number 28 in 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever by VH1.
The music video for the song has become the basis for the "Rickrolling" Internet meme. In 2008, Rick Astley won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Act Ever with the song, as a result of collective voting from thousands of people on the internet, due to the popular phenomenon of Rickrolling. It was also featured as a downloadable track for the Rock Band series.
The song is considered Astley's signature song and it is often played at the end of Astley's live concerts. During a live performance, usually on the last verse, Rick sometimes shouts out to the audience that he is feeling "bloody marvellous" or in other countries that he is feeling "fantastic" after the line "And if you ask me how I'm feeling" to have some banter with the audience.
Original success
The song hit number one in the US in March 1988 after it was played by resident DJ, Larry Levan, at the Paradise Garage in 1987. The single topped the charts in 25 countries worldwide.
On March 12, 1988, "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached number one in the American Billboard Hot 100.
Rickrolling
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is the subject of a popular Internet prank known as "rickrolling" involving misleading links (commonly shortened URLs) redirecting to the song's music video. Originally started by 4chan, by May 2007, the practice had achieved notoriety on the Internet, and it increased in popularity after its use as a 2008 April Fools' Day joke by various media companies and websites, including YouTube rickrolling all of its featured videos on that day and a website allowing people to rickroll their friends' phones.
In "a couple of weeks," about 13 million people had been tricked into watching Astley's video, the BBC reported on 1 April 2008. "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, adding: "That's what's brilliant about the Internet."
Astley also appeared in the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade interrupting a song performed by those on a float promoting the Cartoon Network program 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 USD in royalties from YouTube for his performance share, as of August 2010, but Astley denied those reports in 2016.
Cover versions
Track listings
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (7" Vocal Mix) – 3:32
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 3:30
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Cake mix) – 5:46
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 6:19
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" – 3:32
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape to New York mix) – 7:01
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape from Newton mix) – 6:23
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Cake mix) – 5:48
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 3:30
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" – 3:32
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape from Newton mix) – 6:30
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape to New York mix) – 7:00