Born in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England in 1966, only two years before Black Sabbath was formed, Rick Astley started his musical career in 1985 when Ozzy Osbourne already had made history with the Heavy Metal group and had a successful solo career.
Astley released his debut album “Whenever You Need Somebody” in 1987 and that record had his biggest hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”, which reached the first position on the charts from several countries, including the Billboard United States Hot 100.
Since then he released eight more albums but is obviously recalled for that hit single. In an interview with Classic Rock he recalled that he met Ozzy once and the Prince of Darkness offered to help him to find a band to back him up. However, his wife Sharon quickly finished their conversation.
Rick Astley recalls Ozzy Osbourne’s offer to find him a band
“He said, ‘Are you over here playing?’, and I said, ‘No, we’re just doing promo’ and then went, ‘If you want to put a band together, let me know. I’ve worked with all the greats.’ And I knew he had – he’d worked with some of the best guitar players on that planet.”
“Sharon just leaned over and said, ‘Will you shut up? He doesn’t want to play with your long-haired, tattooed fucking monsters.’ I was gobsmacked. The fact that he recognized me for one thing, but also because he thought he could put together the appropriate band for me to go out and play ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ with. But what a lovely man for doing it,” Rick Astley said.
“Never Gonna Give You Up” sold 15.2 million copies worldwide, which is a number bigger than the discography of many other famous groups. It was a number one hit single in 25 countries, winning the Brit Award for Best British Single in 1988.