Rick Astley

Richard Paul Astley 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. By the time of his retirement in 1993, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.

His first single was the little-known "When You Gonna", released as a collaboration with Lisa Carter, with little promotion. It did not chart. His first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", was released eight months later, in August. Astley's distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance-pop made the song an immediate success, spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. The song was also a worldwide number-one hit, topping the charts in 24 other countries. It was the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 hit singles for him. "Never Gonna Give You Up" won Best British Single at the 1988 BRIT Awards awards.

His third album, "Free," was released in 1991 and contained collaborations with Elton John. It had three singles and reached number 9 in the UK and number 31 in the US.

In 1994, Astley retired from the music industry at 27, deciding that family life was more important. Astley returned to the music industry in 2000, with his album "Keep It Turned On."

In 2007, Astley won MTV European's the "Best Act Ever" award.

In 2019, Astley released a new album, "The Best of Me," which includes some of his original tracks and some reimagined versions of his existing songs. One of them is a pianoforte version of "Never Gonna Give You Up."