“Never Gonna Give You Up” is a pop song by English singer Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley’s most popular, as well as his signature song, and it is often played at the end of his live concerts. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, it was released by RCA Records as the first single from Astley’s debut studio album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987), with a music video directed by Simon West.
The song became a worldwide hit, initially in the 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 charts in 25 different countries, including the US and West Germany, and winning Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards.
The video resurged in popularity in 2007 due to the bait-and-switch “Rickroll” Internet meme. In 2008, Astley won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Act Ever with the song, as a result of a collective campaign by thousands of people on the Internet. In 2019, Astley recorded and released a new “Pianoforte” arrangement of the song for his album The Best of Me. In 2023, Billboard magazine ranked “Never Gonna Give You Up” among the 500 best pop songs of all time.
