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Rick Astley memoir tackles Rickrolling, Dave Grohl
Rick Astley is as surprised as anyone that his career is still rolling.
The humble British singer-songwriter linked together forever with his No. 1 decade-defying pop-culture-ingrained hit from 1987, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” has experienced the glory of fan-swarming fame, the inevitable resulting exhaustion, the retreat into civilian family life and an unlikely comeback that renders him much more than a footnote of pop music.
In his autobiography “Never” (out Tuesday, Pan Macmillan, 292 pages, $30), Astley, who turns 59 on Feb. 6, is an even-keeled voice. From his challenging upbringing with his father and siblings living in a Portakabin in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, to becoming a jewel in the crown of Stock Aitken Waterman, the hit factory/British production team behind a parade of ‘80s songs, Astley’s story embodies the tenet of head down, plow forward.
He’s also a humorous fellow, more with the dry shrug of a dad at the park with his kid than an acerbic flame thrower. But above all, Astley, who grew up playing drums in local bands and working at his father’s gardening store, never discounts the roles of luck and chance in his still-viable career.
“It’s almost as if there are two Rick Astleys,” he writes in the introduction. “The professional Rick Astley and the private Rick Astley, but they’re both incredibly happy … (the professional one) got a second chance of fame on his own terms, which means it’s completely different from his first burst of fame … And the private Rick Astley has, by anyone’s standards, a fantastic life.”
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Here are a few other takeaways from “Never.”
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Rick Astley’s brother once threatened to kill their father
Astley shares early in the book that life in his family household was “rarely normal.” His father, Horace, was equipped with a simmering temper and one day when Astley was 17, he found himself on the ground after his father pushed him and started kicking.
When he looked up, his older brother Mike was standing there holding a knife and looking like “someone who’d finally had enough.”
Mike walked up to Horace, held the knife to his throat and “calmly but very clearly” said, “I will kill you stone dead if you move an inch.”
Astley was stunned – Mike wasn’t the knife-wielding type – and after a few moments of silence, Horace told his sons to leave.
The boys walked to their grandmother’s, Mike not even putting on shoes, and told their mother (who had split from their father) what had occurred.
To Astley’s dismay, “she didn’t seem as shocked or horrified as you might expect.”
Rick Astley is as surprised by Rickrolling as everyone else
After essentially retiring at the age of 27 following a string of hits in the U.K. and U.S. including “Together Forever,” “It Would Take a Strong Strong Man” and “Cry for Help,” Astley, whose soulful voice always belied his choirboy visage, got married, had a daughter and enjoyed the money generated by his success.
But in 2007, while vacationing in Italy, Astley received an email from a friend with a seemingly random link, but after clicking on it was greeted with his video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
Confused, Astley called his friend who laughed that he “Rickrolled Rick Astley!” and explained to the singer about the viral prank circulating online where you trick someone into watching Astley’s music video.
“I guess I could have been hugely offended by it,” Astley recalls in the book, “but I didn’t think it was really mean-spirited.”
He shrugged it off as an internet joke and took some satisfaction in younger generations hearing the song.
But then came the tens of millions of YouTube figures for the video, the sudden appearances during American sporting events and even a Twitter reference from the Obama-helmed White House and an unintended resurgence unfolded.
“I don’t know how my career would have turned out without Rickrolling, but it would be stupid to say it hasn’t ultimately done me a lot of good,” Astley writes.
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Rick Astley has a friend in Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters
The Rickrolling phenomenon renewed Astley’s interest in music and in 2016, he released “50,” his first album in more than a decade that hit No. 1 and went platinum in the U.K.
This somewhat accidental resurgence and visibility also caught the ears of the Foo Fighters. The band first used “Never Gonna Give You Up” in a trolling maneuver in front of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, known for its anti-gay beliefs.
But then Astley found himself playing the same festival in Japan as the band, which he heard was listening to his music in their dressing room. The Foo Fighters were headlining the Summer Sonic Festival and invited any of the other acts to watch their set from the side of the stage.
Astley and his wife joined a group of onlookers and in the middle of a song, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl walked over and introduced himself to Astley. A few moments later, a roadie came up to Astley with a microphone and nudged him on stage, where he joined the band in a version of “Never Gonna Give You Up” done in the style of Grohl’s former band Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
A friendship was born, with Grohl inviting Astley to sing with the Foo Fighters again at the California Jam rock festival and Grohl praising Astley with a few affectionate expletives.
Astley continues to tour and in 2023, released his ninth studio album, “Are We There Yet?,” which peaked at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart.
“Never Gonna Give You Up: Rick Astley’s Memoir Dives into Rickrolling and Friendship with Dave Grohl”
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