Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[A²]

I have the whole song memorized!

Then again, I've genuinely rickrolled myself twice, so I'm somewhat...different.

[Brentai]

I've genuinely rickrolled myself twice

and i watched

[McFrugal]

Hey guys this link is awesome.

I can confirm that with Firefox 2.0, I have to hold down ESC to get rid of those 50 dialogue boxes in any reasonable amount of time, and then disable javascript/java so that I can close the tab without them coming back.

[jsnlxndrlv]

With chrome, I only saw two dialog boxes!  Thanks, "[] Prevent this page from creating additional dialogs"!

[Fredward]

And with Firefox and NoScript, I saw a box and some URLs, and that's it. 

[Catloaf]

I just hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete.  No, not the horrible comic.  Though sometimes I would like to hit that guy in the face so words might, for just a moment, stop pouring out of him to flood word bubbles and kill all humor everywhere.

[A²]

I just hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete.  No, not the horrible comic.  Though sometimes I would like to hit that guy in the face so words might, for just a moment, stop pouring out of him to flood word bubbles and kill all humor everywhere.

He seemed like he was getting better, but then the miscarriage storyline showed that it was only a temporary recovery.

[Classic]

Babies are not something it is cool to talk about blue screening on



I still don't know what punctuation I should use there.

[sei]

And with Firefox and NoScript, I saw a box and some URLs, and that's it. 

This would have held for me, but I can't install NoScript on someone else's computer without the world ending.

[Kazz]

{{refimprove|date=October 2008}}
{{Infobox Musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| Name                = Rick Astley
| Img                 = Rick Astley-cropped.jpg
| Img_capt            = Astley performing in [[Singapore]], August 2008
| Background          = solo_singer
| Birth_name          = Richard Paul Astley
| Born                = {{birth date and age|1966|2|6|}}
| Origin              =  [[Newton-le-Willows]], [[Merseyside]], [[England]]
| Instrument          = [[Singing|vocals]], [[Guitar]], [[Drum kit|drums]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]
| Voice_type          = [[Baritone]]
| Genre               = [[Pop music|Pop]]
[[Blue-eyed soul]]
| Occupation          = [[Singer-songwriter]]
| Years_active        = 1985-present
| Label               = [[Sony BMG]]
| Associated_acts     = [[FBI (disambiguation)|FBI]]
[[Stock Aitken Waterman]]
| URL                 = http://www.rickastley.co.uk/
| Notable_instruments =
}}
'''Richard Paul Astley''' ([[Lancashire]], [[Newton-le-Willows]], [[Merseyside]], [[England]], [[February 6]], [[1966]]) is an [[English people|English]] [[singer]], [[songwriter]] and [[musician]]. Astley is married to [[Lene Bausager]] and has one daughter, Emilie <ref>Moss, John. "Manchester Popular & Rock Music (11 of 11)". Manchester UK. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.</ref>. Astley is best known for his 1987 hit single in 16 countries, [[Never Gonna Give You Up]]. In 2007, Astley became an [[Internet phenomenon]] when his video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became part of a popular [[internet meme ]] called "''[[rickrolling]]''".<ref>Wikipedia, [[Rickrolling]], 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.vh1la.com/bands/az/astley_rick/bio.jhtml Rick Biografia]. VH1 Spañol (undated). Retrieved 2006-12-27. </ref>. In September 2008, Astley was nominated for the "Best Act Ever" award at the [[MTV Europe Music Awards]] <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7646807.stm</ref>. Astley has sold more than 40 million singles and albums worldwide.

==Career==

In 1985, Astley was playing the club circuit as a drummer with a [[soul music|soul]] band named FBI when he was noticed by the [[record producer]] [[Pete Waterman]] and persuaded him to come to [[London]] to work at the [[PWL]] recording studio. Under the tutelage of the production team of [[Mike Stock]], [[Matt Aitken]] and [[Pete Waterman]], known as [[Stock Aitken Waterman]], Astley was taught about the [[sound recording and reproduction|recording]] process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the [[recording studio]] '[[gofer|tea boy]]'.

During much of his career, due to his deep [[bass-baritone]] voice, many listeners assumed he was [[black (people)|black]]. In one instance, the comedic entertainer [[Sinbad (actor)|Sinbad]] discussed him with a talk-show host, expressing his surprise that Astley was not "one of the brothers." In another, it was widely believed for years that he was the voice behind the chorus of [[Cathy Dennis]]' song "Just Another Dream", when in fact the true singer was an African-American disc jockey known as Dancin' Danny D. Even after his visual appearance, it was still popular belief that he was [[mime artist|miming]] for a [[black American]] singer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rick Astley |work=ShakeTheTV.com |url=http://www.shakethetv.com/lyrics-videos-bio/Rick+Astley }}</ref> His brother [[Mike Astley]] helped to refute this assertion.

His first [[single (music)|single]] was the little-known "[[When You Gonna]]," released as a collaboration with [[lisa Carter]], but his first solo offering was "[[Never Gonna Give You Up]]," released in 1987. It became an immediate success, spending five weeks at the top of the [[The Official UK Charts Company|British charts]] and becoming the year's highest-selling single. It was the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 [[chart-topper|hit]] singles for him.

The album ''[[Whenever You Need Somebody]]'' also reached [[Chart-topper|number one]] in the UK, and the hit singles continued, including the title track and a cover of [[Nat King Cole]]'s "[[When I Fall in Love]]."

On [[12 March]] [[1988]], "[[Never Gonna Give You Up]]" also topped the [[Billboard charts|U.S. singles chart]] and was followed by a second U.S. #1 on [[18 June]] with his second U.S. single release, "[[Together Forever (Rick Astley song)|Together Forever]]." In 1989 he was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]] for Best New Artist of the Year.  He lost to [[tracy Chapman]].

[[Image:FBI with Astley.jpg|thumb|The group [[FBI (disambiguation)|FBI]], from left to right, Kevin Needham, Rick Astley, Will Hopper, Peter Dale, & Greg Smee, in 1984.]]

In late 1988, Astley released his second album, [[Hold Me in Your Arms (Rick Astley album)|Hold Me In Your Arms]]. While the album sold well in Europe, with all its 3 singles becoming top 10 hits in the UK, his success in the US waned, with only the first single, [[She Wants To Dance With Me]], making an impact, peaking at #6.

By the end of the decade, Astley had parted company with Stock Aitken Waterman. He achieved one more major success with the 1991 [[ballad]] "[[Cry for Help (song)|Cry for Help]]," which reached the [[Top 40|top 10]] in both the UK and the US. The song was taken from his third album, Free, which featured a move towards soul music, leaving his synth-pop days behind. The album was not as successful as his previous two.

In 1991 the [[RIAA]] certified that two million copies of ''[[Whenever You Need Somebody]]'' had been sold. Total world sales of Astley's records (including singles, albums and compilation inclusions) have since reached 39.9 million.

His next album, ''[[Body & Soul (Rick Astley album)|Body and Soul]]'', was released in 1993. The album did not chart in the UK but managed to make the [[Billboard 200]], peaking at #182. The two singles, "The Ones You Love" and "Hopelessly", performed very well on the adult contemporary chart, peaking at #19 and #4 respectively. "Hopelessly" also crossed over and peaked at #31 on the [[Top 40 Mainstream]] chart.

For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Astley remained largely out of the spotlight.

Almost 10 years after ''[[Body & Soul (Rick Astley album)|Body and Soul]]'', Astley finally returned to the music world and released "[[Keep It Turned On]]" in 2002. The album featured the single "[[Sleeping (song)|Sleeping]]", which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from U.S. house producer Todd Terry.

In March, 2005, Astley released the album ''[[Portrait (Rick Astley album)|Portrait]]'' in which he [[cover version|covered]] many classic standards such as "[[Vincent (song)|Vincent]],"<ref>{{cite web |format=video |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttfTJuU3frA&feature=related |last=Astley|first=Rick |title=Vincent (Live) |publisher=[[YouTube]] }}</ref> "[[Nature Boy (song)|Nature Boy]]" and "[[They Long to Be) Close to You|Close to You]]".

In early 2006, Astley withdrew unexpectedly at the [[The eleventh hour|eleventh hour]] from appearing on the [[BBC TV]] celebrity/pro duets show ''[[Just the Two of Us (series)|Just the Two of Us]]'' after committing to do so. This led to criticism from those in the entertainment industry and media. His place was filled by singer [[Russell Watson]], who eventually won the competition. The BBC failed to explain that Astley's withdrawal was due to his girlfriend [[Lene Bausager]] being nominated for the 2006 [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Live Action Short Film|Best Live Action Short Film]] for the [[Sean Ellis]] film ''[[Cashback (film)|Cashback]]'', where she was the main producer. Astley would have missed a crucial part of the show by attending the awards ceremony and so withdrew before the show began.<ref>[http://www.digitalhit.com/galleries/22/1/29 Photo 29 Lene Bausager and Rick Astley | 78th Annual Academy Awards<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Image:Rick Astley2.jpg|thumb|Astley at a festival in Singapore]]

Based on various music charts in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], [[United States|US]] and [[Canada]], Astley has charted a grand total of 14 different hit singles and 6 different hit albums, as of March 2006. In April 2008, the album "The Ultimate Collection: Rick Astley" was released by Sony BMG and by early May it had reached #17 on the UK Top 40 Albums Chart. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7383141.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Madonna celebrates chart double<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In September 2008 Rick was nominated for the 'Best Act Ever' award at the [[MTV Europe Music Awards]]<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7646807.stm</ref> The push to make Astley the winner of the award continued after the announcement, as well as efforts to enourage MTV to personally invite Astley to the awards ceremony.<ref>[http://www.bestactever.com/2008/10/10/wtf-mtv/ Bestactever.com October 10, 2008]. Retrieved October 12, 2008.</ref>  On October 10, Astley's website confirmed that an invitation to the awards had been received. <ref>[http://www.rickastley.co.uk/news/news.html Rickastley.com October 10, 2008]. Retrieved October 12, 2008.</ref>

In 2008, Astley was a headliner act at the [[Northampton Balloon Festival]].

==Rickroll internet phenomenon==
{{main|Rickrolling|Never Gonna Give You Up}}
In 2007<!--EDITORS PLEASE READ. THE RICKROLL INTERNET MEME BEGAN IN 2007, PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE DATE TO 2008 BECAUSE THIS IS NOT ACCURATE.--><ref name="Date">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/trends?q=rick+astley%2C+rickroll%2C+rick+roll%2C+never+gonna+give+you+up&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0|title=Rick Roll related Google Trends|publisher=[[Google]]|work=[[Google Trends]]|accessdate=2008-04-04}}</ref> Rick Astley became the subject of a [[viral phenomenon|viral]] [[Internet meme]] in which an estimated 25 million<!-- Updated numbers: 6,555,869 + 7,572,975 + 10,804,832 = 24,933,676 (source: YouTube)--> Internet users were tricked into watching Rick Astley's  video "Never Gonna Give You Up" by posting it under the name of other popular video titles.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mark  |last=Savage  |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Rickrolling and the league of web fame   |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7325280.stm |publisher=[[BBC]] |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2008-04-01 |accessdate=2008-04-02 }}</ref> The practice is now known as [[Rickroll]]ing. The phenomenon became so popular that on [[April Fools' Day|April 1, 2008]], [[YouTube]] pranked its users by making every single featured video  on the front page a Rickroll.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/31/youtube-rickrolls-users/|title=YouTube RickRolls Users|publisher=[[TechCrunch]]|accessdate=2008-06-01}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{main|Rick Astley discography}}
Canada Top data: for singles and albums from The Record magazine.  US Top data: for singles from [[Billboard magazine|The Billboard Hot 100]], for albums from [[Billboard magazine|The Billboard 200]]; UK Top data for singles and albums is from [[UK Singles Chart]].

==See also==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote|Rick Astley}}
*[[list of number-one hits (United States)]]
*[[list of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)]]
*[[list of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)]]
*[[list of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart]]
*[[Rickrolling]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.rickastley.co.uk/ Official Rick Astley website]
*[http://www.myspace.com/rickastley Official Rick Astley MySpace]
*[http://www.youtube.com/RickAstleytv Official Rick Astley YouTube channel]

{{Rick Astley}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astley, Rick}}
[[Category:Rick Astley]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:English male singers]]
[[Category:English pop singers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Music from London]]
[[Category:Blue-eyed soul singers]]
[[Category:Polydor Records artists]]
[[Category:People from Newton-le-Willows]]

[[bg:Рик Астли]]
[[ca:Rick Astley]]
[[de:Rick Astley]]
[[es:Rick Astley]]
[[eo:Rick Astley]]
[[fr:Rick Astley]]
[[id:Rick Astley]]
[[it:Rick Astley]]
[[nl:Rick Astley]]
[[ja:リック・アストリー]]
[[pl:Rick Astley]]
[[pt:Rick Astley]]
[[ru:Эстли, Рик]]
[[simple:Rick Astley]]
[[fi:Rick Astley]]
[[sv:Rick Astley]]
[[tl:Rick Astley]]
[[uk:Рік Естлі]]
[[zh:瑞克·艾斯利]]

[Cthulhu-chan]

I dunno what you just did, but I don't like it.   

[Guild]

{{refimprove|date=October 2008}}
{{Infobox Musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| Name                = Rick Astley
| Img                 = Rick Astley-cropped.jpg
| Img_capt            = Astley performing in [[Singapore]], August 2008
| Background          = solo_singer
| Birth_name          = Richard Paul Astley
| Born                = {{birth date and age|1966|2|6|}}
| Origin              =  [[Newton-le-Willows]], [[Merseyside]], [[England]]
| Instrument          = [[Singing|vocals]], [[Guitar]], [[Drum kit|drums]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]
| Voice_type          = [[Baritone]]
| Genre               = [[Pop music|Pop]]
[[Blue-eyed soul]]
| Occupation          = [[Singer-songwriter]]
| Years_active        = 1985-present
| Label               = [[Sony BMG]]
| Associated_acts     = [[FBI (disambiguation)|FBI]]
[[Stock Aitken Waterman]]
| URL                 = http://www.rickastley.co.uk/
| Notable_instruments =
}}
'''Richard Paul Astley''' ([[Lancashire]], [[Newton-le-Willows]], [[Merseyside]], [[England]], [[February 6]], [[1966]]) is an [[English people|English]] [[singer]], [[songwriter]] and [[musician]]. Astley is married to [[Lene Bausager]] and has one daughter, Emilie <ref>Moss, John. "Manchester Popular & Rock Music (11 of 11)". Manchester UK. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.</ref>. Astley is best known for his 1987 hit single in 16 countries, [[Never Gonna Give You Up]]. In 2007, Astley became an [[Internet phenomenon]] when his video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became part of a popular [[internet meme ]] called "''[[rickrolling]]''".<ref>Wikipedia, [[Rickrolling]], 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.vh1la.com/bands/az/astley_rick/bio.jhtml Rick Biografia]. VH1 Spañol (undated). Retrieved 2006-12-27. </ref>. In September 2008, Astley was nominated for the "Best Act Ever" award at the [[MTV Europe Music Awards]] <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7646807.stm</ref>. Astley has sold more than 40 million singles and albums worldwide.

==Career==

In 1985, Astley was playing the club circuit as a drummer with a [[soul music|soul]] band named FBI when he was noticed by the [[record producer]] [[Pete Waterman]] and persuaded him to come to [[London]] to work at the [[PWL]] recording studio. Under the tutelage of the production team of [[Mike Stock]], [[Matt Aitken]] and [[Pete Waterman]], known as [[Stock Aitken Waterman]], Astley was taught about the [[sound recording and reproduction|recording]] process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the [[recording studio]] '[[gofer|tea boy]]'.

During much of his career, due to his deep [[bass-baritone]] voice, many listeners assumed he was [[black (people)|black]]. In one instance, the comedic entertainer [[Sinbad (actor)|Sinbad]] discussed him with a talk-show host, expressing his surprise that Astley was not "one of the brothers." In another, it was widely believed for years that he was the voice behind the chorus of [[Cathy Dennis]]' song "Just Another Dream", when in fact the true singer was an African-American disc jockey known as Dancin' Danny D. Even after his visual appearance, it was still popular belief that he was [[mime artist|miming]] for a [[black American]] singer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rick Astley |work=ShakeTheTV.com |url=http://www.shakethetv.com/lyrics-videos-bio/Rick+Astley }}</ref> His brother [[Mike Astley]] helped to refute this assertion.

His first [[single (music)|single]] was the little-known "[[When You Gonna]]," released as a collaboration with [[lisa Carter]], but his first solo offering was "[[Never Gonna Give You Up]]," released in 1987. It became an immediate success, spending five weeks at the top of the [[The Official UK Charts Company|British charts]] and becoming the year's highest-selling single. It was the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 [[chart-topper|hit]] singles for him.

The album ''[[Whenever You Need Somebody]]'' also reached [[Chart-topper|number one]] in the UK, and the hit singles continued, including the title track and a cover of [[Nat King Cole]]'s "[[When I Fall in Love]]."

On [[12 March]] [[1988]], "[[Never Gonna Give You Up]]" also topped the [[Billboard charts|U.S. singles chart]] and was followed by a second U.S. #1 on [[18 June]] with his second U.S. single release, "[[Together Forever (Rick Astley song)|Together Forever]]." In 1989 he was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]] for Best New Artist of the Year.  He lost to [[tracy Chapman]].

[[Image:FBI with Astley.jpg|thumb|The group [[FBI (disambiguation)|FBI]], from left to right, Kevin Needham, Rick Astley, Will Hopper, Peter Dale, & Greg Smee, in 1984.]]

In late 1988, Astley released his second album, [[Hold Me in Your Arms (Rick Astley album)|Hold Me In Your Arms]]. While the album sold well in Europe, with all its 3 singles becoming top 10 hits in the UK, his success in the US waned, with only the first single, [[She Wants To Dance With Me]], making an impact, peaking at #6.

By the end of the decade, Astley had parted company with Stock Aitken Waterman. He achieved one more major success with the 1991 [[ballad]] "[[Cry for Help (song)|Cry for Help]]," which reached the [[Top 40|top 10]] in both the UK and the US. The song was taken from his third album, Free, which featured a move towards soul music, leaving his synth-pop days behind. The album was not as successful as his previous two.

In 1991 the [[RIAA]] certified that two million copies of ''[[Whenever You Need Somebody]]'' had been sold. Total world sales of Astley's records (including singles, albums and compilation inclusions) have since reached 39.9 million.

His next album, ''[[Body & Soul (Rick Astley album)|Body and Soul]]'', was released in 1993. The album did not chart in the UK but managed to make the [[Billboard 200]], peaking at #182. The two singles, "The Ones You Love" and "Hopelessly", performed very well on the adult contemporary chart, peaking at #19 and #4 respectively. "Hopelessly" also crossed over and peaked at #31 on the [[Top 40 Mainstream]] chart.

For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Astley remained largely out of the spotlight.

Almost 10 years after ''[[Body & Soul (Rick Astley album)|Body and Soul]]'', Astley finally returned to the music world and released "[[Keep It Turned On]]" in 2002. The album featured the single "[[Sleeping (song)|Sleeping]]", which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from U.S. house producer Todd Terry.

In March, 2005, Astley released the album ''[[Portrait (Rick Astley album)|Portrait]]'' in which he [[cover version|covered]] many classic standards such as "[[Vincent (song)|Vincent]],"<ref>{{cite web |format=video |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttfTJuU3frA&feature=related |last=Astley|first=Rick |title=Vincent (Live) |publisher=[[YouTube]] }}</ref> "[[Nature Boy (song)|Nature Boy]]" and "[[They Long to Be) Close to You|Close to You]]".

In early 2006, Astley withdrew unexpectedly at the [[The eleventh hour|eleventh hour]] from appearing on the [[BBC TV]] celebrity/pro duets show ''[[Just the Two of Us (series)|Just the Two of Us]]'' after committing to do so. This led to criticism from those in the entertainment industry and media. His place was filled by singer [[Russell Watson]], who eventually won the competition. The BBC failed to explain that Astley's withdrawal was due to his girlfriend [[Lene Bausager]] being nominated for the 2006 [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Live Action Short Film|Best Live Action Short Film]] for the [[Sean Ellis]] film ''[[Cashback (film)|Cashback]]'', where she was the main producer. Astley would have missed a crucial part of the show by attending the awards ceremony and so withdrew before the show began.<ref>[http://www.digitalhit.com/galleries/22/1/29 Photo 29 Lene Bausager and Rick Astley | 78th Annual Academy Awards<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Image:Rick Astley2.jpg|thumb|Astley at a festival in Singapore]]

Based on various music charts in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], [[United States|US]] and [[Canada]], Astley has charted a grand total of 14 different hit singles and 6 different hit albums, as of March 2006. In April 2008, the album "The Ultimate Collection: Rick Astley" was released by Sony BMG and by early May it had reached #17 on the UK Top 40 Albums Chart. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7383141.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Madonna celebrates chart double<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In September 2008 Rick was nominated for the 'Best Act Ever' award at the [[MTV Europe Music Awards]]<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7646807.stm</ref> The push to make Astley the winner of the award continued after the announcement, as well as efforts to enourage MTV to personally invite Astley to the awards ceremony.<ref>[http://www.bestactever.com/2008/10/10/wtf-mtv/ Bestactever.com October 10, 2008]. Retrieved October 12, 2008.</ref>  On October 10, Astley's website confirmed that an invitation to the awards had been received. <ref>[http://www.rickastley.co.uk/news/news.html Rickastley.com October 10, 2008]. Retrieved October 12, 2008.</ref>

In 2008, Astley was a headliner act at the [[Northampton Balloon Festival]].

==Rickroll internet phenomenon==
{{main|Rickrolling|Never Gonna Give You Up}}
In 2007<!--EDITORS PLEASE READ. THE RICKROLL INTERNET MEME BEGAN IN 2007, PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE DATE TO 2008 BECAUSE THIS IS NOT ACCURATE.--><ref name="Date">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/trends?q=rick+astley%2C+rickroll%2C+rick+roll%2C+never+gonna+give+you+up&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0|title=Rick Roll related Google Trends|publisher=[[Google]]|work=[[Google Trends]]|accessdate=2008-04-04}}</ref> Rick Astley became the subject of a [[viral phenomenon|viral]] [[Internet meme]] in which an estimated 25 million<!-- Updated numbers: 6,555,869 + 7,572,975 + 10,804,832 = 24,933,676 (source: YouTube)--> Internet users were tricked into watching Rick Astley's  video "Never Gonna Give You Up" by posting it under the name of other popular video titles.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mark  |last=Savage  |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Rickrolling and the league of web fame   |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7325280.stm |publisher=[[BBC]] |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2008-04-01 |accessdate=2008-04-02 }}</ref> The practice is now known as [[Rickroll]]ing. The phenomenon became so popular that on [[April Fools' Day|April 1, 2008]], [[YouTube]] pranked its users by making every single featured video  on the front page a Rickroll.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/31/youtube-rickrolls-users/|title=YouTube RickRolls Users|publisher=[[TechCrunch]]|accessdate=2008-06-01}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{main|Rick Astley discography}}
Canada Top data: for singles and albums from The Record magazine.  US Top data: for singles from [[Billboard magazine|The Billboard Hot 100]], for albums from [[Billboard magazine|The Billboard 200]]; UK Top data for singles and albums is from [[UK Singles Chart]].

==See also==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote|Rick Astley}}
*[[list of number-one hits (United States)]]
*[[list of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)]]
*[[list of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)]]
*[[list of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart]]
*[[Rickrolling]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.rickastley.co.uk/ Official Rick Astley website]
*[http://www.myspace.com/rickastley Official Rick Astley MySpace]
*[http://www.youtube.com/RickAstleytv Official Rick Astley YouTube channel]

{{Rick Astley}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astley, Rick}}
[[Category:Rick Astley]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:English male singers]]
[[Category:English pop singers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Music from London]]
[[Category:Blue-eyed soul singers]]
[[Category:Polydor Records artists]]
[[Category:People from Newton-le-Willows]]

[[bg:Рик Астли]]
[[ca:Rick Astley]]
[[de:Rick Astley]]
[[es:Rick Astley]]
[[eo:Rick Astley]]
[[fr:Rick Astley]]
[[id:Rick Astley]]
[[it:Rick Astley]]
[[nl:Rick Astley]]
[[ja:リック・アストリー]]
[[pl:Rick Astley]]
[[pt:Rick Astley]]
[[ru:Эстли, Рик]]
[[simple:Rick Astley]]
[[fi:Rick Astley]]
[[sv:Rick Astley]]
[[tl:Rick Astley]]
[[uk:Рік Естлі]]
[[zh:瑞克·艾斯利]]
[/list][/list][/list][/list]

[MadMAxJr]

Can lolcat images go under the banner of universal hate too?

[McDohl]

That's better than Eiffel Tower.
 

[Fredward]

That's better than A MILLION Eiffel Towers.
 

And lolcats are not bad when used tastefully. Suffice it to say, if full 50% of your posts consist of nothing but a lolcat, that is not tasteful.

[Brentai]

[Cthulhu-chan]

I only hate people that insist on calling them anything other than cat macros.


You're all on the list.   

[François]

And lolcats are not bad when used tastefully. Suffice it to say, if full 50% of your posts consist of nothing but a lolcat, that is not tasteful.

[MadMAxJr]

:Arthas:
This entire town thread must be purged.

[Fredward]

what the goddamn hell just happened

EDIT: gone now. but I blame Kazz.