Richard Paul "Rick" Astley (born 6 February 1966) is a BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his 1987 hit single in 16 countries, "Never Gonna Give You Up". Astley holds the record for being the only male solo artist to have his first 8 singles reach the Top 10 in the UK and has sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.
After retiring from the music industry in 1993, Astley made a comeback in 2007 when he became an Internet phenomenon, as his video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became part of a popular Internet meme known as "Rickrolling". Astley was voted by Internet users "Best Act Ever" at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.During the late 2000s, Astley continued touring across the globe, touring with various other 80s acts, such as Boy George and Belinda Carlisle in the Here and Now Tour. In April 2009, he wrote an article for Time Magazine about moot.
2010s
Astley was a special guest throughout Peter Kay's new tour, The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour, from 27 April to 22 May 2010. To mark the occasion, Rick Astley released a new single Lights Out, which was released physically from 7.