rick astley

In “What year is this?” news, Rick Astley has a number one album – in his home country of England. The singer, now 50, just hit the charts with his comeback album, titled 50. Well, naming your album after your current age worked for Adele. Apparently, this tactic also proved successful for Rick. You young whippersnappers may only know Rick from the internet phenomenon known as “Rickrolling,” where pranksters would tempt you to click a link only to be taken to a video for Rick’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” (still a damn catchy tune if you ask me). The prank garnered Rick over 70 million views of the song’s video on YouTube and led to a surprise appearance at the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. England’s Telegraph complied some fun facts about Rick that are worth a read. He was kind of a big deal. The singer retired in 1993 to raise his daughter and now, 23 years later, Rick is back with a vengeance. The new album beat out Paul McCartney and popular British singer Tom Odell to take the top spot. The first single off of the album, “Keep Singing”, shows off Rick’s still soulful pipes, and the singer still has the youthful looks he rocked back in the 80s. Yes, I admit, I fangirled out a little when I saw this video. He’s still a cutie. Rick, who thought the whole Rickrolling thing was “hilarious” is slightly surprised about the success of his comeback album. He recently told the Daily Mail, “It’s all a bit bonkers. I am not allowing myself to believe that it is all happening. This time last year, I would have laughed at the thought of being number one again. And I almost didn’t care whether it hit the top or not. Because it is just fantastic to be here.” Sadly, we US Rick fans will have to wait until October 7th to download the album, which is available for pre-order on iTunes. I think it’s awesome that Rick is back. I always thought he was a great singer. I do like “You Move Me” better than “Give You Up,” but he was part of the soundtrack of my college years and I’m glad to see him again. With 80s classics like Ghostbusters coming back to the big screen – along with rumored remakes of Overboard, War Games and Police Academy, it’s kind of inevitable that we’re ready to welcome some of the decade’s more memorable voices back to the airwaves (or streaming services – I’m not that old). Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Photo credit: Getty Images, WENN.com