"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a pop song by English singerRick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley's most popular, as well as hissignature song, and it is often played at the end of his live concerts. Written and produced byStock Aitken Waterman, it was released byRCA Records as the first single from Astley's debut studio album,Whenever You Need Somebody (1987), with amusic video directed bySimon West.
The song became a worldwide hit, initially in the United Kingdom in 1987, where it stayedat 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 1988Brit Awards.
The video resurged in popularity in 2007 due to the bait-and-switch "Rickroll"Internet meme. In 2008, Astley won theMTV 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 albumThe Best of Me.[9] In 2023,Billboard magazine ranked "Never Gonna Give You Up" among the 500 best pop songs of all time.[5]
Mike Stock stated that theColonel 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 likeKylie orBananarama 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 byPete 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 andMatt Aitken.[12] Initial mixing was done byPhil Harding, with the song's distinctive synthetic string and brass lines later added byFairlight operator Ian Curnow.[12] The final mix was provided byPWL 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]
Music video
The Harrow Club served as a filming location
The music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" was directed bySimon West. It was filmed inLondon, in the Harrow Club and on Freston Road in theLondon Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.[13] Since being uploaded toYouTube on 25 October 2009, the video has received over 1.6 billion views and 18 million likes; it surpassed the 1 billion views milestone on 28 July 2021.[14][15]
Critical reception
A review in Pan-European magazineMusic & Media presented "Never Gonna Give You Up" as a "carefree and cheerful pop ditty, sung with that youthful, muscular voice".[16]
Chart performance
For the week ending 12 March 1988, "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached number one on the AmericanBillboard Hot 100 chart[17] after having been played by resident DJ,Larry Levan, at theParadise 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 theOfficial Charts Company's list of the UK's best-selling singles of all time at number 164.[21]
Legacy
The track was producersStock 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 labelRCA.[12]
In August 2022, the CSAA Insurance Group, an insurer for theAmerican Automobile Association, released acommercial featuring Rick Astley, with scenes recreated from the original "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video.[26]Yung Gravy's 2022 song "Betty (Get Money)" prominentlyinterpolates "Never Gonna Give You Up"'s synthesiser riff and chorus, with Stock Aitken Waterman credited as songwriters.[27] Although Astley agreed to license the music and lyrics, he never authorised Gravy to directly copy his voice. On 26 January 2023, Astley filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court, objecting to Gravy's use of an impersonator to mimic Astley's voice.[28] The case was settled in September 2023.[29]
In 2014, Matt Dunn ofWhatCulture ranked the song at number one in his "15 unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman singles" list.[30]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."[31] In April 2020,The Guardian ranked it at number 44 in their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1s".[32]Classic Pop ranked the song number four in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman Songs" in 2021.[33] 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 ofThe Guardian listed the song at number two in his "Stock Aitken Waterman's 20 greatest songs – ranked!", describing it "a brilliantly written song".[34]
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is the subject of anInternet meme known as "rickrolling" involving misleading links (commonly shortened URLs) redirecting to the song's music video.[35] Started by users on4chan, the practice had by May 2007 achieved notoriety on the Internet. It increased in popularity after its use as a 2008April 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.[36] "I think it's just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it", Astley told theLos Angeles Times in late March 2008. "That's what's brilliant about the Internet."[37]
Astley appeared in the 2008Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, interrupting a song performed by those on a float promoting theCartoon Network programmeFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends with alipsynched 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.[38] 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" byVirgin to appear in a commercial and for his appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.[39]
Track listings
7" single
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (7" vocal mix) – 3:32
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (instrumental) – 3:30
12" maxi
"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
12" maxi
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Cake mix) – 5:48
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (instrumental) – 6:21
"Never Gonna Give You Up" – 3:32
12" single
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape from Newton mix) – 6:30
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape to New York mix) – 7:00
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.[40][41]
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (7" vocal mix) – 3:32
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Pianoforte) – 3:30
Charts
Weekly charts
Weekly chart performance for "Never Gonna Give You Up"
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Cover versions
In 1997, Frenchboy band2Be3 covered the song under the name "Toujours là pour toi", which peaked at No. 4 in France and No. 12 in Belgium (Wallonia).[107]
A group of London dance producers called the Rickrollerz made ahouse music cover version of "Never Gonna Give You Up".[108] In May 2008, the track entered the UK Club Charts at no. 22.
In 2022, American pop rock bandSmash Mouth along with their new singer,Zach Goode covered the song, following the retirement of former lead singer,Steve Harwell.[109]
In 2023, Astley said onThis Morning that he re-recorded the song "with misheard lyrics" saying this intention was to "break the stigma" ofhearing loss, which he is experiencing.[110]
^"Classifiche".Musica e Dischi (in Italian).Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved29 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Rick Astley".
^"Top Dance Singles"(PDF).Music Week. 29 August 1987. p. 26.Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved11 September 2023 – via World Radio History.
^"מדיה פורסט – המצעד הבינלאומי השבועי – Week 16 – 13/04 – 19/04/2025" [Media Forest – International Weekly Chart – Week 16 – 13/04 – 19/04/2025] (Select the year 2025 and the option "16 13-04-25 19-04-25" from the stretched lists, then click "שירים מובילים - רדיו - בינלאומי" to see the chart.) (in Hebrew).Media Forest. 20 April 2025. Retrieved17 May 2025.
