Rick Astley

It has been 36 years since Rick first shot to fame, yet he is now a more prominent force in popular culture than he ever was. 

The endearingly boyish 57-year-old is still winning over new fans, performing with Foo Fighters, Take That, Blossoms, becoming an unlikely social media sensation and simply embracing the unending love that greets his era-defining smash Never Gonna Give You Up. 

Indeed, since returning to #1 in 2016 with his album 50, Rick – who this year took his first ever bow on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage and headlined two nights at the Royal Albert Hall – has enjoyed the strongest run of album chart success of his career to date.

His long-awaited ninth studio album Are We There Yet? was released to much acclaim in October, debuting at #2 on the UK Album charts. The chart topper has now sold 40 million records worldwide.

Are We There Yet? is the sound of Rick reflecting and building upon the experiences he’s gone through since the release of 2018’s Beautiful Life.Some of the new songs were started during lockdown in 2020, but he decided to leave them deliberately unfinished until it was feasible to play them live again. 

As well as the sound of his unmistakable voice, Rick performed almost all instruments on the record. As a result, Are We There Yet? shows that Rick is still pushing to reach even greater musical heights.

Rick’s live shows are incredibly joyous affairs as he beautifully mixes songs old and new, such as Together Forever, Keep Singing to Angels On My Side as well as incredible covers including the likes of Harry Styles’ As It Was and AC/DC's barnstorming Highway To Hell.