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Never Gonna Give You Up
"Never Gonna Give You Up" | ||||
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Single by Rick Astley | ||||
from the album Whenever You Need Somebody | ||||
Released | 27 July 1987[1] | |||
Recorded | October 1986[2] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Producer(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Rick Astley singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"Never Gonna Give You Up"
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Music video | ||||
"Never Gonna Give You Up" on YouTube |
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is the debut single recorded by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. It was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and was released as the first single from Astley's debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987). The song was a worldwide number-one hit, initially in the 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.[6] The song won Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards.
In 2008, 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 Rickrolling meme.[7] The song is considered Astley's signature song and it is often played at the end of his live concerts. The music video for the song has become the basis for the "Rickrolling" Internet meme, in which a user expecting entirely unrelated content is shown the video.
In 2019, Astley recorded and released a 'Pianoforte' version of the song for his album The Best of Me, which features a new piano arrangement.[8]
Production
"Never Gonna Give You Up" was recorded at PWL Studios in South London, England. The song's basslines were produced using a Yamaha DX7 digital synthesizer, while a Linn 9000 was used for the drums and sequencing. Other equipment used included a Roland Juno 106 analog synthesizer, and Yamaha Rev5 and Rev7 reverberators.[9]
Mike Stock stated that the Colonel 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 like Kylie or Bananarama so I looked at the Colonel Abrams track 'Trapped' and recreated that syncopated bassline in a way that suited our song."[10]
Music video
The 1987 music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" was directed by Simon West. It was filmed in London, largely around the London Borough of Harrow.[11]
Since being uploaded to YouTube on 24 October 2009, the video has received over one billion views; it surpassed that milestone on 28 July 2021, 34 years and 1 day after the song was released.[12][13]
Original success
On 12 March 1988, "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached number one in the American Billboard Hot 100[14] after having been played by resident DJ, Larry Levan, at the Paradise Garage in 1987.[15] The single topped the charts in 25 countries worldwide.[6]
The single also reached the No. 1 spot on the year-end singles charts in the UK and South Africa.[16][17]
Rickrolling
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is the subject of an Internet meme known as "rickrolling" involving misleading links (commonly shortened URLs) redirecting to the song's music video.[18] Originally started by users on 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, which rickrolled all of its featured videos on that day—allowing people to easily rickroll their friends' devices.[19] "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."[20]
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 in royalties from YouTube for his performance share as of August 2010.[21] Astley denied those reports in 2016.[22]
Impact and legacy
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."[23]
The song was reportedly played as part of a psychological campaign to convince Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to surrender during the United States invasion of Panama in 1989,[24] along with other songs such as the Clash's cover of "I Fought the Law".[25]
In April 2020, The Guardian ranked it at number 44 in their list of The 100 greatest UK No 1s.[26]
Classic Pop ranked the song number 4 in their list of Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs in 2021.[27]
The Emmy Award-winning sitcom Ted Lasso featured the song prominently in the season two episode "No Weddings and a Funeral", including a scene where Rebecca Welton (played by Hannah Waddingham) begins to sing it in the middle of her father's funeral. Astley himself commented of the episode, "Waddingham...did an amazing, incredible job. It was so emotional, so moving, so incredible. People have said they even cried (during) the church scene."[28]
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 2500 were signed and sold.[29][30]
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (7" Vocal mix) – 3:32
- "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Pianoforte) – 3:30
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
All-time charts
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Certifications and sales
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[31] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada)[72] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[73] | Platinum | 90,000![]() |
France (SNEP)[74] | Silver | 250,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[75] | Gold | 500,000^ |
Italy (FIMI)[76] | Gold | 35,000![]() |
Netherlands (NVPI)[77] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Sweden (GLF)[78] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[80] | Platinum | 1,000,000[79] |
United States (RIAA)[81] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Cover versions
- In 1997, French boy band 2Be3 covered the song under the name "Toujours là pour toi", which peaked at No. 4 in France and No. 12 in Belgium (Wallonia).[82]
- A group of London dance producers called the Rickrollerz made a house music cover version of "Never Gonna Give You Up".[83] In May 2008, the track entered the UK Club Charts at no. 22.
See also
- Rickrolling
- List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1988
- List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1988
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1987
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1988 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance singles of 1988 (U.S.)
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
- List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand)
- List of number-one singles of 1988 (Canada)
- List of number-one hits of 1987 (Germany)
- List of number-one songs in Norway
- List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden
- List of number-one singles of 1987 (Spain)
- List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1980s
- VG-lista 1964 to 1994
References
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- ^ Brungardt, Leah (12 November 2019). "An Interview with 'Never Gonna Give You Up' Singer Rick Astley on His Iconic Hit Song, His Newest Album and Much More!". All Access Music. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
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- ^ Brungardt, Leah (29 July 2021). "Never Gonna Give You Up Blue 7-Inch Vinyl (Signed)". Rick Astley Official Online Store. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "To celebrate 1 Billion views for Never Gonna Give You Up I'm releasing a limited & numbered 7" blue vinyl of the song, 2500 of them and I'll be signing them all! Rick ♥️". YouTube. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
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- ^ a b Blackwell, Earl (1990). Earl Blackwell's Celebrity Register, 1990. Gale Research Inc. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-8103-6875-0.
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- ^ "Topp 10" (PDF). Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 23 October 1987. p. 43. Archived from the original on 29 May 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ "Rick Astley Chart History". RÚV. 29 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Never Gonna Give You Up". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 41, 1987" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
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- ^ "Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". VG-lista. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ^ "Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
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- ^ "Rick Astley Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "Rick Astley – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending MARCH 19, 1988". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012.
- ^ "Rick Astley Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ Kimberley, Chris (2000). Zimbabwe : Zimbabwe Singles Chart Book. Harare.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1987". Australian Music Report. 28 December 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2019 – via Imgur.
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- ^ "TOP – 1987". Top-france.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
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- ^ "Italian single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 29 November 2021. Select "2021" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
- ^ "Dutch single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Never Gonna Give You Up in the "Artiest of titel" box.
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External links
- 1987 debut singles
- 1987 songs
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Brit Award for British Single
- Cashbox number-one singles
- Dance-pop songs
- Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
- Single Top 100 number-one singles
- Internet memes introduced in 2007
- Viral videos
- Music memes
- Number-one singles in Australia
- Number-one singles in Germany
- Number-one singles in New Zealand
- Number-one singles in Norway
- Number-one singles in South Africa
- Number-one singles in Spain
- Number-one singles in Sweden
- Number-one singles in Zimbabwe
- Pete Waterman Entertainment singles
- RCA Records singles
- Rick Astley songs
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman
- Songs written by Matt Aitken
- Songs written by Mike Stock (musician)
- Songs written by Pete Waterman
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles
- 1987 neologisms
- Signature songs