Rick Astley‘s 1987 hit music “By no means Gonna Give You Up” has handed 1 billion streams on Spotify — 38 years after the music debuted.
The feat is much more noteworthy provided that the music was launched greater than 20 years earlier than Spotify launched.
“I by no means might have imagined again in 1987 that ‘By no means Gonna Give You Up’ would nonetheless be going robust a long time later,” Astley stated in a press release. “Due to streaming platforms, a complete new era has been capable of uncover music like mine. Reaching 1 billion streams is one thing I by no means dreamed of and to everybody who’s ever listened, thanks.”
The music grew to become a success upon its preliminary launch, reaching No. 1 on greater than 20 worldwide charts, together with spending 5 weeks on the prime of the charts within the U.Okay. and two weeks atop the Billboard Scorching 100.
Nevertheless, the tune reached a brand new era in later years due to the Rickrolling phenomenon, which went viral circa 2007. A quick explainer, in case you have one way or the other managed to keep away from this till now: Rickrolling is a joke performed on-line on unsuspecting people who click on on a hyperlink about something unrelated to Astley solely to be taken to the music video for the music.
“By no means Gonna Give You Up” was licensed platinum within the U.Okay. in 2020 and went double platinum three years later; it was licensed 5 occasions platinum within the U.S. In the meantime, the video has been watched 1.6 billion occasions on YouTube.
Astley had a string of different hits within the late ’80s, together with “Collectively Eternally,” “It Would Take a Sturdy Sturdy Man” and “She Desires to Dance With Me.” He retired from the music enterprise in 1993 to spend time with household however mounted a comeback in 2016 with the album 50, which hit No. 1 within the U.Okay. He carried out on the Glastonbury Competition in 2023 in addition to different venues world wide. In 2024, he launched a memoir, By no means: The Autobiography.
Watch the music video for “By no means Gonna Give You Up” beneath.
