Latest news with #RickAstley
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rick Astley Celebrates 'Never Gonna Give You Up' Reaching 1 Billion Spotify Streams: 'Who Would've Believed?'
Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached one billion streams on Spotify The song gained newfound popularity in the 2000s thanks to the rickrolling bait-and-switch meme Less than 1,000 songs have garnered one billion streams on SpotifyRick Astley is never gonna give you up — and neither will his fans. On Monday, June 2, the Grammy-nominated artist shared his thoughts on the 1987 song "Never Gonna Give You Up" reaching one billion streams on Spotify. "So who would've believed after all these years 'Never Gonna Give You Up' has had a billion streams on Spotify. That's a billion streams. How amazing," Astley, 59, said in an Instagram video. "Thank you for listening and lots of love, and I'll see you all soon." "Never Gonna Give You Up" was part of Astley's debut solo album, Whenever You Need Somebody released in his early 20s. The song reached no. 1 on over 20 international charts upon release, per The Hollywood Reporter. As of publishing, the music video has over 1.6 billion views on YouTube. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! It experienced a new popularity in the 2000s, when getting "Rick-Rolled," a bait-and-switch online move, was born from the song. The meme included tricking people online into expecting one thing from a URL and then being brought to the song or the video for "Never Gonna Give You Up," hence the term Rick-Rolled. Astley, who has been vocal about the song's viral popularity, commented on the meme craze in 2016 and told PEOPLE about the first time he was Rick-Rolled. "A friend of mine Rick-Rolled me a couple of times, and I didn't really know what he was doing. I just thought he was being an idiot," the singer said at the time. "I just kept thinking, 'What is this idiot doing? This is just not amusing. I don't really know what's going on.' So we eventually got on the phone and he explained it to me." Added Astley: "To be honest, I still didn't really get it. It took a few weeks for me to grasp." However, he only sees the meme as a "positive thing." "I don't think you can really have any bad thoughts about an Internet prank that turned your song into a global moment," said Astley. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! He also consulted his daughter, who was a teen at the time, on navigating the new trend. 'She was saying, 'Don't sweat it. It has nothing to do with you,'' he told PEOPLE in January 2025. "And I'm like, 'How can it have nothing to do with me?' And she said, 'Just leave it where it is. Don't try to embrace it and try funny things with it,'" continued Astley. Less than 1,000 songs have reached the Billion Streams club on Spotify. Astley's hit joins "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, "Mr. Brightside" by the Killers, "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel and "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire, among other tracks. Read the original article on People
CNBC
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNBC
Rick Astley's No. 1 hit has a billion Spotify streams, 38 years after its release: It's 'something I never dreamed of'
Rick Astley was just 21 years old when he recorded his 1987 hit, 'Never Gonna Give You Up.' It spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and charted for 24 more weeks. At age 27, he retired from recording music, with no clue that his song would see a resurgence among millennials and Gen Zers decades later. Astley's song joined Spotify's "Billions Club" on Monday, surpassing 1 billion streams on the platform. "I never could have imagined back in 1987 that 'Never Gonna Give You Up' would still be going strong decades later," Astley, 59, said in a statement, according to USA Today. "Thanks to streaming platforms, a whole new generation has been able to discover music like mine. Reaching 1 billion streams is something I never dreamed of and to everyone who's ever listened, thank you." Astley's retirement wasn't permanent: He released a studio album in 2005, and has released three more since 2016. But his song's modern popularity is more due to "Rickrolling," an online bait-and-switch prank where someone is tricked into watching the song's music video through a misleading first learned about Rickrolling in 2007, when his friend emailed him a YouTube link that brought him to his own music video, he told Vice in 2022. Today, the music video has at least 1.6 billion views on YouTube, and "Never Gonna Give You Up" has stayed relevant enough to be certified five-times platinum in the U.S. It's unclear exactly how much money Astley has received from the online phenomenon, with streaming services, distributors and music labels rarely publishing exact payout rates. The singer himself may not care: "I've never even tried to find out what was actually made from the YouTube hits. I've never really thought about it," he wrote on Reddit in October 2016. Astley was already financially comfortable when he retired at 27, he told ITV's "This Morning" on October 28. More recently, he was paid "a chunk of money" to sing "Never Gonna Give You Up" at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2008, and in a 2015 Virgin Mobile commercial, he wrote on Reddit. "I have been paid well twice, for rickrolling," Astley wrote. Astley's early retirement was prompted by burnout, he told ITV. He felt so consumed by the business of music that he rarely enjoyed the feeling of being a musician, he said. "I was going to America to do a big TV show in New York, and I developed a fear of flying," said Astley. "I didn't want to get on planes anymore, which is hard to be an international pop star if you won't fly." His music-making hiatus gave him a relative degree of off-stage anonymity that he's since embraced, he told Vice. "I've done way more gigging in the last 15 years than I did when I was famous. I'm a lot happier than when I was having my hits," said Astley. "It's kind of perfect because, even though I've just sung for 10,000 people, and they've sung most of the words back to me … when I go to the bar, one person might recognize me. Sometimes none — it's amazing."
7NEWS
a day ago
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
INSIDE MEDIA: Rick Astley passes 1 billion streams on Spotify
A video version of this article is available in the player above with vision of the interviews quoted. Rick Astley passes 1 billion If you've ever been 'Rickrolled' (and who of us hasn't), you might be interested to know the song behind the prank has reached 1 billion streams on Spotify. Never Gonna Give You Up was released in 1987 by renowned hitmakers Stock Aitken Waterman and was a number 1 hit in the UK, US and here in Australia. Around 2007, the song became something of a phenomenon when people started sending prank links to it on YouTube. A user would be told the link was for one thing, but ended up being 'Rickrolled', or taken to the song. There's no doubt the prank helped the song stay fresh in the minds of people, leading consumers to search for the song on Spotify, which eventually led to the 1 billion streams. 'So who would have believed, after all these years, Never Gonna Give You Up has had a billion streams on Spotify' Astley posted on his official TikTok account. 'How amazing. Thank you for listening and lots of love and I'll see you all soon, I hope.' What an amazing achievement. You can see his message in the video player above and, no, it won't take you to the song – I promise! Let the spin begin It's always funny when a company tries to discredit a story by trying to change the narrative. That's just what happened in regard to my exclusive story last week about I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! facing major budget cuts and its plan to pre-record for the 2026 series. On Wednesday, Pedestrian published a hit job on my reporting without attributing the original article and without including the writer's byline. Instead, it credited The PR fluff piece had obviously been given to the outlet by Channel 10, who did not want to officially confirm my reporting, but rather change the narrative. According to the gushing story, the change from live to pre-recording has nothing to do with budget cuts (heaven forbid), but more to do with the availability of big names who do not want to do the show live. As per the article: 'This change is massive,' one network insider spilled to 'Live TV has always been the dealbreaker for certain 'celebs.' Now that it's pre-recorded, a whole bunch of big names who used to say 'nah' are suddenly very interested.' It continues: Basically, removing the live element means 'celebs' don't have to stress about getting cancelled in real time and producers can flex a bit more control over the chaos. Think better editing, bigger stunts, and (hopefully) fewer awkward silences when someone gets booted. But then comes the big one, squarely taking aim at my reporting this change was made for budgetary reasons: And before anyone starts screaming 'budget cuts!', our sources are insisting this has nothing to do with Network Ten's upcoming Big Brother reboot stealing all the coins. 'If anything, this frees up resources to chase even bigger names,' the insider said. 'Think, international guests and proper A-listers, not just someone who got kicked off The Bachelor six years ago.' Why, then, did Channel 10 pre-record the finale this year, shooting three different versions and sending the entire production team home early? Obviously, that had nothing to do with budget! I can't wait to see Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johansson and other top tier talent take to the jungle in the next season, rather than a tragic bunch of nobodies. If 10 wants to change the narrative, then why not go on the record, confirm my reporting (which is correct) and make an official statement, rather than leaking to an outlet. At least we know they've already confirmed that McKnight was right! Media Watch hits out at Today It was interesting watching the hit job done by the ABC's Media Watch on Monday night against Channel 9's Today Show. The publicly funded broadcaster took issue with the fact the breakfast show dared into a commercial deal with UAE. Host Linton Besser wasn't happy with the show showing the positive tourist attractions of the country, rather than focusing on the negatives. 'The UAE is a repressive nation-state governed by an absolute monarchy whose arbitrary and fickle approach to justice and the law can create frightening risks for those who move there for work, like 28-year-old Emirates Airlines flight attendant Tori Towey, an Irish citizen who in June last year was strip searched and charged with attempting suicide after fleeing domestic violence' Besser said. All of that is true. But even though Besser declared Today had failed in 'spectacular fashion' in journalistic terms, he did have to acknowledge Nine did not hide anything from viewers. 'Despite the entire outside broadcast being funded by UAE government-backed businesses, which Nine did disclose, a spokesman for the media company told us the 'event TV' project had not been vetted by the foreign government'. OK, so what exactly is the problem here? Breakfast shows have always been a mix of news and entertainment. Sunrise certainly turned the format on its head in the 2000s when it introduced 'newstainsment' and became the number one breakfast show – a position which is still in place today. Commercial arrangements are a part of breakfast TV and there is no issue as long as those deals are made clear to the audience. Media Watch did not challenge Nine's position that the deal with UAE was disclosed. Nine and Today have never been shy about reporting on the atrocities that have taken place in the region and I don't believe this short-term deal will change that. So, Media Watch – which does not rely on commercial deals thanks to the $1.1 billion of government funding the ABC receives each year from taxpayers – thinks the show should have refused the money or done a big expose. Let's live in the real world. Commercial broadcasters are doing it tough and deals like this help them to survive. If a big story about the UAE had broken and the Today Show hadn't covered it, then Media Watch should rightly call them out. But that didn't happen. Instead, what we have here is an elitist attitude from a government-funded entity that doesn't rely on revenue to survive.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Coffee break: Edible sunscreen, summer milkshake favorite, and getting Rick-rolled
Good morning, everyone! We're taking a coffee break and we have some fun stories to share with you this morning! Harvard University researchers followed a group of nearly 50-thousand women for 30 discovered that drinking coffee every morning helped women stay mentally sharp and physically strong later in life. The benefits were noticeable in middle-aged women who drank caffeinated coffee. Decaf coffee and tea didn't have the same effect. Participants drank up to 2-and-a-half cups of joe a day. One of Chick-fil-A's most beloved milkshakes is set to return next week. The Atlanta-based fast food restaurant recently announced that its peach milkshake will return for its 16th year starting June 9. The creamy treat will be joined by a new peach-themed item, peach frosted lemonade. The drink features Chick-fil-A's regular or diet lemonade mixed, icedream dessert, and peaches. Both drinks will be available for a limited time at participating restaurants. Chick-fil-a also announced that the pineapple dragonfruit beverage will be extended through August 16. Dermatologists are weighing in on the new trend of 'Edible sunscreens.' As you might expect, most are saying don't ditch the topical lotions and sprays. The edibles are filled with vitamins and antioxidants to protect your skin from within. Dermatologists say people might just be hearing about these, but they have actually been prescribing them for tears. They contain ingredients to help reduce sun-induced skin damage and inflammation, but they were always meant to be used with a physical barrier … Like traditional SPF. So no, edible sunscreen does not keep you from burning. 'Never gonna give you up' by Rick Astley first came out in 1987, but future generations know it more as the 'Rick rolling' song.. The gag from 2007 where you fool people into clicking on an unrelated link that takes them to the song. Our sister station in Chicago had the WGN Men's glee club even rick-rolled Rick Astley seven years ago. Astley thanked the listeners and said he never could have imagined his song would hit a billion streams. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CNN
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Hollywood Minute: Rick Astley's billion streams
Rick Astley hit gets one billion Spotify streams, 'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale' first look, and no more 'Luke' for Mark Hamill? Douglas Hyde reports.
