Officio Birthday Star : Rick Astley

 

Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality. He rose to fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman; his 1987 recording of their song "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. His 1988 single "Together Forever" became his second single to top the US Billboard Hot 100, and was one of his eight songs to reach the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. By the time of his retirement in 1993, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.^[3][4][5]

Astley made a comeback in 2007, becoming an Internet phenomenon when the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became integral to the meme known as "rickrolling". Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008,^[7] and his 2016 album 50 debuted in the UK at No. 1.

In November 1987, the album Whenever You Need Somebody, containing four tracks written by Astley, reached number one in the UK and Australia and No 10 in the US. It was certified 4x Platinum in the UK and Canada, and 2x Platinum in the US. Whenever You Need Somebody sold 15.2 million copies worldwide, making Astley the top-selling British act of the year.

In December 1987, Astley released a cover version of the Nat King Cole classic "When I Fall in Love". This single is mainly remembered for a closely fought contest for UK Christmas Number 1. Rivals EMI, hoping to see their act the Pet Shop Boys reach No 1, rereleased Cole's version.^[19][20] This led to a slowdown of purchases of Astley's version, allowing the Pet Shop Boys to reach the coveted top spot with their cover version of Always on My Mind. Despite selling over 200,000 copies and gaining a Silver certification from the BPI, Astley's "When I Fall in Love" peaked in the UK at No 2 for two weeks. The rerelease of Cole's version reached No 4. The B side for Astley was a dance number, "My Arms Keep Missing You", which was successful in mainland Europe.

Astley's fourth single release was "Together Forever" (1988), reaching No 2 in the UK. It was denied the top spot by Neighbours sensation Kylie Minogue's debut "I Should Be So Lucky". "Together Forever" was more successful in the US, topping the charts, making it his second and last US chart-topper. In 1989 Astley was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist but lost to Tracy Chapman.

His fifth and final release from his debut album was "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man". It was a more soulful song than his other releases, and was mainly intended for the North American market. It was not released in Britain. It was another hit, reaching No 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No 1 in Canada. During the period between his debut release and his fifth single, Astley outsold every other artist in the world. In the UK, he was in the Top 40 every week for the first six months of his career.

A fire in the PWL studios destroyed much of Astley's new material, causing a delay in the release of his second album. Hold Me in Your Arms was released in January 1989, containing five singles, and reached No 8 in the UK and No 19 in the US, being certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US. 

Albums: 

• Whenever You Need Somebody (1987)
• Hold Me in Your Arms (1988)
• Free (1991)
• Body & Soul (1993)
• Keep It Turned On (2001)
• Portrait (2005)
• 50 (2016)
• Beautiful Life (2018)
• The Best of Me (2019)