TIL Millions of rickrolls has only earned Rick Astley $12

"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 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.^[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 Bandseries.

The song is considered Astley's signature song and it is often played at the end of Astley's live concerts. During a live performance, usually on the last verse, Rick sometimes shouts out to the audience that he is feeling "bloody marvellous" or in other countries that he is feeling "fantastic" after the line "And if you ask me how I'm feeling." to have some banterwith the audience.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Other cover versions
• 2Rickrolling
• 3Track listings
• 4Personnel
• 5Charts and certifications
  • 5.1Peak positions
  • 5.2Year-end charts
  • 5.3Certifications and sales
• 6References
• 7External links

Other cover versions[edit]

• 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).^[7]
• In 1999, an Italian cover entitled "Non ti lascerò" was made by Fiorello.^[8]
• Eurobeat artist Kevin Johnson covered the song in 2004 for the album Super Eurobeat 149.^[9]
• A group of London dance producers called The Rickrollerz made a house music cover version of "Never Gonna Give You Up"^[10] In May 2008, the track entered the UK Club Charts at no. 22.
• In August 2007, internet celebrity and singer Tay Zonday covered the song.^[11]
• On 25 November 2008, Barry Manilow released a version of the song on his The Greatest Songs of the Eighties album.^[12]
• In 2008, Ashley Tisdale released a cover of the song, along with three other songs of the 80s.^[13]

Rickrolling[edit]

Main article: 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 YouTuberickrolling 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 theCartoon 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 $12 USD in royalties from YouTube for his performance share, as of August 2010.^[18]

Track listings[edit]

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[edit]

• 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[edit]

Peak positions[edit] 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[edit] 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[edit] Region Certification Certified units/Sales 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