The Overnight Success of Rick Astley

Rick Astley cemented his place in music history by selling more than ten million records in his debut year.

With his full bodied voice he is as comfortable singing up-tempo dance numbers as he is with slow smooth ballads.

Born on February 6 1966 in the UK Rick was brought up in Newton-Le_Willows, in North England. As a child he sang in the church choir but was more attracted to the drums and as a teenager began playing with several local bands.

One of the bands that Rick played for was FBI, formed by the singer and four friends. The band wrote all their own material which made them standout from others of their ilk. Rick had just taken over as the lead vocalist when producer Pete Waterman was invited to see the band in action. Waterman liked Rick immensely and offered to sign him on as a solo artiste. However loyalty to his band prevented Rick from taking up this offer.

A year down the line however the band convinced Rick that he had made a mistake and made him contact Waterman again. This resulted in him joining PWL Studios in London. Under the guidance of Waterman and fellow producers Aitken and Stock, Rick learnt the ropes of record production and ultimately made his debut with Never Gonna Give You Up in 1987.

The single shot straight to the top of the charts in the UK and shortly also became a #1 hit in 16 other countries including the US, Japan Australia and much of Europe. In fact for the first 6 months after his debut, Rick was in the Top 40 every week! He would later win a BPI Award for Best Single for this track.

Later that year Rick released his second single Whenever You Need Somebody, following it with an album of the same name. Another whopping success, the album topped the UK charts and sold over 15.2 million copies worldwide and Rick Astley became the biggest selling British act of the year. Rick ended 1987 with a third single, a cover of Nat King Cole’s When I Fall In Love.

Rick’s impact on the US markets was also considerable. Tracks like Together Forever and It Would Take a Strong Strong Man broke into the top ten lists and in 1988 Rick won a Grammy nomination for Best New Artiste.

Rick’s second album Hold Me in Your Arms took a while coming. Its release was delayed to 1989 partly due to a studio fire that destroyed much of the material prepared for the album. The album contained seven tracks written and co-produced by Rick including She Wants to Dance With Me.

The next year, after completing a world tour that include the UK, US , Canada, Australia and Japan, Rick decided to change labels in a bid to widen his horizons. He signed to RCA/BMG Worldwide , which gave him greater creative control and he began writing and recording.

In 1991 Rick co-produced Free, which included arrangements on strings from Ann Dudley and choir from gospel star Andrae Crouch. Elton John too featured on the piano for two tracks. Cry for Help, Move Right Out and Never Knew Love were all successful singles.

1993’s Body and Soul was written completely by Rick, assisted by artists like Lisa Stansfield and Rob Fisher. The Ones You Love and Hopelessly from the album were both charted hits.

Around this time Rick’s first child, a daughter was born and he decided to take a hiatus from recording to focus on his family. In spite of all the success, Rick Astley remains one of the most grounded and unassuming stars of the British music scene.