Rick Astley Sold a Staggering Number of Records Between 1987 and 1993 (2024)

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Rick Astley Sold a Staggering Number of Records Between 1987 and 1993? ›

His 1987 song "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries and won the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. By the time of his retirement in 1993, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.

With well over 40 million records sold, and an enviable back-catalogue of chart-topping hits, Astley remains one of the most successful solo artists to have ever emerged from the UK.

In 1989, Astley was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist but lost to Tracy Chapman. In December 1989, Astley set off on his first world tour, touring 15 countries including the UK, US, Australia, and Japan.

'Cry For Help' (1991) After leaving Stock Aitken Waterman in the early 90s, Rick was keen to shed his popstar image - growing his hair and moving to the Soul genre. Released as the first single from his third album 'Free', ballad 'Cry For Help' was co-written by Rick and reached Number 7 in the UK.

Brooks is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold more than 170 million records. Billboard ranked Brooks as the greatest male solo artist on the Billboard 200 chart of all time.

Never Gonna Give You Up, currently at 1.002 million copies sold, was Rick's first single back in the late 1980s, his first of eight Top 10s in a row.

His 1987 debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody, sold 15.2m copies worldwide and featured the track Never Gonna Give You Up – a mega hit single that made him a household name not only in the 1980s but into the new millennium, too: the song became an internet phenomenon in 2007.

In a 2008 interview with The Guardian, Astley said, "I believe in God, but I don't go to church every Sunday. I think there's more to life than just going to church." This statement suggests that Astley believes in God but does not necessarily adhere to organized religion.

'Never Gonna Give You Up' dominated charts in 25 countries and is now certified 5x platinum in the US. While Rick Astley went on to have a few more top 10 hits, the majority of people only really know this rickrolling masterpiece, so we're classing it as a one-hit wonder!

Astley became a global pop sensation in 1987 with his debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" written by the trio Stock Aitken Waterman. The song was at number one on the UK Singles Chart for five weeks, becoming the year's highest-selling single.

How many things will Rick Astley never do? ›

Things Rick Astley will NEVER Do: Give you up, let you down, run around, desert you, make you cry, say goodbye, tell a lie, hurt you, all of the above.

Before his mainstream success, he was in bands called "FBI" and "Give Way". He was hired as a "tape op" at the recording studio was to overcome his shyness. Co-wrote the song "Mission Statement" with former Marillion singer Fish (from Fish's 1999 album "Raingods with Zippos").

Well, the “humor” from rickrolling comes from the fact that the other person doesn't want to see a video. As a result, it's a form of trolling, which means that it technically is already banned.

While not mentioned in Astley's complaint, the entity that owns the publishing rights to “Never Gonna Give You Up” is Primary Wave, a prolific purchaser of publishing rights to catalogs tied to Bob Marley, Nirvana, and Prince.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.

The 'Backstreet Boys' have been together for over 30 years and have sold over 130 million albums worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band in history. The Backstreet Boys are: Nick Carter (b.