[1] He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15 million copies worldwide and was certified Platinum by both the BPI and the RIAA.

[5] Astley has sold approximately 40 million records worldwide and was nominated in 1989 for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist but lost to Tracy Chapman.

[3][17] After leaving school at 16, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as Give Way – specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs – and FBI, which won several local talent competitions.

[29] Astley's first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", recorded on New Year's Day 1987, and released eight months later, in August.

I said to Pete and Matt that singing a cover would be to underplay and undervalue his undoubted vocal strengths, and that we should write Rick his own song.

[31] Mike Stock stated that the Colonel Abrams hit "Trapped" (1985) was a big influence on "Never Gonna Give You Up", saying: "For Rick Astley's song I didn't want it to sound like Kylie or Bananarama so I looked at the Colonel Abrams track 'Trapped' and recreated that syncopated bassline in a way that suited our song.

"[32] Initial mixing was done by Phil Harding, with the song's distinctive synthetic string and brass lines later added by Fairlight operator Ian Curnow.

[31] Although his producers were initially unenthusiastic about the track,[31] his distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance-pop made the song an immediate success,[33] spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single.

[37] Discussing Astley's success with the track, Brown complimented the singer on his voice and praised the chart performance of his cover.

[41] Alex Henderson of AllMusic stated that SAW "should definitely be proud of their work" on this "often captivating debut album" which "proved [the singer] to be a welcome addition to the British R&B scene"; he added that the "music approach is very much a production of the '70s" and highlighted tracks like "Together Forever", "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Don't Say Goodbye".

[47] Production of the singer's follow up album was complicated when a distressed Astley rejected the set's intended first single, "Nothing Can Divide Us"—a track the producers then gave to Jason Donovan.

It was one of four songs written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman that were belatedly added to the album in order to help Astley make his release deadline following the fire.

[49] The four tracks were written and produced in just two days, with writer Matt Aitken confirming "Take Me to Your Heart" was inspired by house music act Inner City's 1988 hit, "Big Fun".

The shift in musical genre led him to change his image, ditching the boy next door look, growing his hair, and presenting himself as a mature and passionate musician.

He said later this was due to his growing frustration with the business side of things; he compared his life as a pop star to being "more like a travelling salesman than a musician or performer".

[18][57] During that period he co-wrote "Mission Statement", a track for former Marillion singer Fish's 1999 solo album Raingods with Zippos.

[58][59] Seven years after Body and Soul, Astley returned to the music industry, signing a co-publishing deal with Polydor and recording a new album, Keep It Turned On, between November 2000 and September 2001, and released in late 2001.

The album featured the single "Sleeping", which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from the US house producer Todd Terry.

[3] In March 2005, Astley released the album Portrait, in which he covered many classic standards such as "Vincent",[60] "Nature Boy" and "Close to You".

[62] On 7 November, following a massive Internet campaign by fans, Astley won the award in Liverpool but was not there in person to receive it.

Interviewed by Amanda Holden on the Lorraine show on 7 April, Astley explained that turning 50 had prompted him to release the single.

[74] On 1 June 2018, Astley posted a video on Twitter announcing his upcoming album Beautiful Life which was released on 13 July.

The band invited Astley to join them as they performed the "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the style of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Astley and Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl became friends and he performed with the band at the California Jam rock festival.

[86] In June 2020, towards the end of the nationwide lockdown in England due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Astley released four cover songs: "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers, "Everlong" by Foo Fighters, "Titanium" by David Guetta, and "Better Now" by Post Malone.

Around that time, Astley made a TikTok account, launching it with a video of him dancing to "Never Gonna Give You Up" which received millions of views.

To accompany the single, he launched a signed limited edition Christmas card, with all proceeds going to the Shooting Stars Children's Hospices.

[96] Morrissey thanked Blossoms and Astley on his website, writing: "Anything that generates interest in that tired old Smiths warhorse is testimony to the wallop it packed.

The meme is a type of bait and switch using a disguised hyperlink that leads to the "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video.

[78] In 2017, Astley partnered with Mikkeller, a Danish brewery, opening two pubs over the following years in Islington and Shoreditch, London.