Never Gonna Give You Up

"Never Gonna Give You Up"
Single by Rick Astley
from the album Whenever You Need Somebody
Released	1987[1]
Format	7" 12"
Recorded	1986
Genre	Dance-pop[2][3] blue-eyed soul[4]
Length	3:31 3:35 (album version) 3:30 (instrumental version)
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Stock Aitken Waterman
Producer(s)	Stock Aitken Waterman
Rick Astley singles chronology
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (1987) "When I Fall In Love" (1987)
Whenever You Need Somebody track listing "Never Gonna Give You Up" (1) "Whenever You Need Somebody" (2) Music sample "Never Gonna Give You Up" Music video "Never Gonna Give You Up" on YouTube

"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a single by Rick Astley, released in 1987. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. The song was released as the first single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987). The song was a worldwide number-one hit, initially in the singer's native United Kingdom in 1987, where it stayed atop 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.^[5] “Never Gonna Give You Up” hit number one in the U.S. in March 1988 after it was played by resident DJ, Larry Levan, at the Paradise Garage in 1987.^[6]

The song won Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards. In 2004, it was voted number 28 in 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever by VH1.

The music video for the song has become the basis for the "Rickrolling" Internet meme. In 2008, Rick 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 popular phenomenon of Rickrolling. It was also featured as a downloadable track for the Rock Band series.

The song is considered Astley's signature song and it is often played at the end of Astley's live concerts.

Music video

In the "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video, directed by Simon West,^[7] produced by Andy Picheta and edited by Robert Bannochie, a smiling Astley sings and dances to the song in various outfits and venues in west London, sometimes accompanied by backup dancers. A bartender, played by Clive Clarke (who appeared prolifically in 1980s music videos, and was a member of Top of the Pops dance troupe Zoo) gradually shifts from casually noticing Astley's singing to being fully engrossed in the song with energetic acrobatic moves. The athletic exertion of many of the other dancers also becomes more intense over the course of Astley's performance.

Other cover versions

• In 1997, French band 2Be3 covered the song under the name "Toujours là pour toi", which had a great success in France (No. 4) and Belgium (Wallonia) (No. 12).^[8]
• In 1999, an Italian cover entitled "Non ti lascerò" was made by Fiorello.^[9]
• Eurobeat artist Kevin Johnson covered the song in 2004 for the album Super Eurobeat 149.^[10]
• A group of London dance producers called The Rickrollerz made a house music cover version of "Never Gonna Give You Up"^[11] The song was remixed on the same day and in the same studio where the original recording took place 20 years earlier. In May 2008, the track entered the UK Club Charts at no. 22. The Version was released at 11 April 2008 and produced by The Rickrollerz self.
• In August 2007, internet celebrity and singer Tay Zonday covered the song.^[12]
• On 25 November 2008, Barry Manilow released a version of the song on his The Greatest Songs of the Eighties album.^[13]

Rickrolling

"Never Gonna Give You Up" is the subject of a popular Internet prank known as "rickrolling" involving misleading links (commonly shortened URLs) redirecting to the song's music video.^[14] 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 rickrolling all of its featured videos on that day and a website allowing people to rickroll their friends' phones.^[15]

In "a couple of weeks," about 13 million people had been rickrolled into watching Astley's video, the BBC reported on 1 April 2008. "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."^[16][17]

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."

Despite the video garnering millions of hits on YouTube, Astley has earned almost no money from the meme, receiving only US$12 in royalties from YouTube for his performance share, as of August 2010.^[18]

Track listings

7" single

1. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (7" Vocal Mix) – 3:32
2. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 3:30

12" maxi

1. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Cake mix) – 5:46
2. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 6:19
3. "Never Gonna Give You Up" – 3:32
4. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape to New York mix) – 7:01
5. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape from Newton mix) – 6:23

12" maxi

1. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Cake mix) – 5:48
2. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 3:30
3. "Never Gonna Give You Up" – 3:32

12" single

1. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape from Newton mix) – 6:30
2. "Never Gonna Give You Up" (Escape to New York mix) – 7:00

Personnel

• Written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman
• Engineer : Mark McGuire, Mike Duffy
• Tape Operator : Burni Adams
• Mixed by :
  • Escape from Newton mix : Mixmaster Pete Hammond
  • Escape to New York mix : The Extra Beat Boys

Charts and certifications

Peak positions Chart (1987–88) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[19] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 4 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[21] 1 Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[22] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[23] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[24] 1 Denmark[25] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[25] 1 France (SNEP)[26] 6 Germany (Official German Charts)[27] 1 Ireland (IRMA)[28] 2 Italy (FIMI)[29] 3 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[30] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[31] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[32] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[33] 1 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[34] 1 Spain (AFYVE)[35] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[36] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[37] 2 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[38] 1 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[39] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[39] 1 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[39] 1 US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[39] 1 US Cash Box[40] 1 Chart (2008) Peak position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[41] 73

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[42] 7 France (IFOP)[43] 39 Germany (Media Control Charts) 14 Italy (FIMI)[29] 13 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[44] 6 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[45] 5 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 20 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[47] 1 Chart (1988) Position Australia (ARIA)[48] 8 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[49] 1 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[50] 8 US Billboard Hot 100[51] 4 US Cash Box[52] 2 Certifications and sales Region Certification Sales/shipments Canada (Music Canada)[53] Gold 50,000 France (SNEP)[54] Silver 267,000[55] Germany (BVMI)[56] Gold 250,000 Netherlands (NVPI)[57] Platinum 100,000 Sweden (GLF)[58] Gold 25,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[59] Gold 500,000 United States (RIAA)[60] Gold 500,000 ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

1. Buskin, Richard (February 2009). "Rick Astley 'Never Gonna Give You Up'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
2. Pemberton, Pat (24 July 2013). "15 Songs You Can't Believe Are 25 Years Old". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
3. Wheeler, Brad (30 July 2013). "Spirit of radio in Toronto getting an indie twist". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
4. "The 10 Best Internet Memes of the Decade (2000-2009)". Paste. 1 November 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
5. "Biography". Mike Stock Music. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
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7. "Simon West". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
8. "lescharts.com – 2 Be 3 – Toujours là pour toi". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
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12. Golden, Geoffery (7 September 2012). "10 Funny Versions of "Never Gonna Give You Up"". CraveOnline. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
13. "The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties: Barry Manilow: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
14. Phillips, Tom (27 March 2008). "Astley speaks on 'Rickrolling' web fad". Retrieved 1 April 2016.
15. "Send funny stuff to your friends' phones!". ComedyCalls.com. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
16. Savage, Mark (1 April 2008). "Rickrolling and the league of web fame". BBC News Online. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
17. Web Scout: Spinning through online entertainment and connected culture. at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 September 2011). Los Angeles Times. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
18. Orlowski, Andrew (31 August 2010). "German judge chides Google over YouTube freeloading". The Register. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
19. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
20. "Austriancharts.at – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
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34. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (A)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
35. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
36. "Swedishcharts.com – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
37. "Swisscharts.com – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
38. "Archive Chart: 1987-08-29" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
39. "Rick Astley – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
40. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending MARCH 19, 1988 at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 October 2012). Cash Box magazine. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
41. "Rick Astley: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
42. "Jaaroverzichten 1987" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
43. "TOP – 1987" (in French). Top-france.fr. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
44. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1987" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
45. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1987" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
46. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1987" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
47. Lane, Dan (18 November 2012). "The biggest selling singles of every year revealed! (1952-2011)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
48. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Singles 1988". ARIA Charts. ARIA. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
49. "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1988". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
50. Top Adult Contemporary Singles of 1988 at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 October 2012). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 31 December 1988. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
51. "Top 100 Hits for 1988". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
52. The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1988 at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 October 2012). Cash Box magazine. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
53. "Canadian single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". Music Canada.
54. "French single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up" (in French). InfoDisc. Select RICK ASTLEY and click OK
55. "Les Singles en Argent" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
56. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Rick Astley; 'Never Gonna Give You Up')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
57. "Dutch single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
58. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
59. "British single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Never Gonna Give You Up in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
60. "American single certifications – Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links

• Music video on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics