In 1985, Astley was playing the club circuit as a singer with a soul band named FBI, when he was seen by the record producer Pete Waterman and persuaded to come to London to work at the PWL recording studio. Under the tutelage of production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the recording studio 'tea boy'. During much of his career prior to the proliferation of music videos, many listeners assumed he was black. In one instance, the comedic entertainer, Sinbad, discussed him with a talk-show host, expressing his surprise that Astley was not "one of the brothers." Even after his visual appearance, it was still popular belief that he was miming for a black American singer. His brother Mark Astley helped to refute this assertion.
His first single was the little-known "When You Gonna" credited to Rick & Lisa, but his first solo outing was "Never Gonna Give You Up," released in 1987. It became an immediate success, spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. It was the first of no fewer than 13 (world-wide) Top 30 hit singles for him.
The album Whenever You Need Somebody also reached Number One in the UK, and the hit singles continued, including the title track and a cover of Nat King Cole's "When I Fall In Love."
On 12 March 1988, "Never Gonna Give You Up" had also topped the U.S. singles chart and was followed by a second U.S. #1 on 18 June with his second U.S. single release "Together Forever."
By the end of the decade, Astley had parted company with Stock Aitken Waterman. He achieved one more major success with the 1991 ballad "Cry For Help," which reached the Top 10 in both the UK and the U.S. It featured a gospel choir arranged by Andraé Crouch, who'd also been involved with Madonna's 1989 hit "Like A Prayer."
His next album Body & Soul was released in 1993. The album did not chart in the U.K. and managed to make The Billboard 200 peaking at a lowly #182. The two singles, The Ones You Love and Hopelessly performed very well on the adult contemporary chart, peaking at #19 and #4 respectively. Hopelessly also crossed over and peaked at #31 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Astley remained largely out of the spotlight.
In 1991 the RIAA certified that two million copies of Whenever You Need Somebody had been sold. Total world sales of Astley's records (inclusive of singles, albums and compilation inclusions) have reached 40 million.
Almost 10 years after "Body & Soul", Rick finally returned to the music world and released "Keep It Turned On" in 2002. The album featured the single "Sleeping", which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from U.S. house producer Todd Terry.
In 2005 Astley released the album Portrait in which he covered many classic soul standards such as "Vincent", "Nature Boy" and "Close To You".
In early 2006, Astley withdrew unexpectedly at the eleventh hour from appearing on the BBC TV celebrity/pro duets show Just the Two of Us after committing to the series. This led to criticism from those in the entertainment industry and media. His place was filled by opera singer Russell Watson, who eventually won the competition. The BBC failed to explain that Astley's withdrawal was due to his partner Lene Bausager being nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for her produced/directed film "Cashback". Astley would have missed a crucial part of the show by attending the awards ceremony and so withdrew before the show started its run.
Based on various music charts in the UK, U.S. and Canada, Astley has charted a grand total of 14 (different) hit singles and 6 (different) hit albums as of March 2006.
During the later part of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, the song "Never Gonna Give You Up" became part of an internet meme similar to the "Duckrolling" of the 4chan game forums. A link would be submitted to the forum, in the first instances to a supposed trailer of a new game, and would redirect the user to the video. This process fondly became known as a "Rickroll", and the usage of which has developed exponentially since. As a result of the increased publicity Rick Astley's former record company (RCA) released a greatest hits album.
In 2008, he won the Best Act Ever prize at MTV EMA's. In the same year he Rick rolled America on National TV in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade..thanks to Cartoon Network
Don't Say Goodbye
Rick Astley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't make me cry, girl (cry girl)
Cause I love you (love you)
Used to have such fun
Used to have good times
But now those days are gone
Used to have it all
But things just went wrong
Used to be in love
Thought we had it made
But everything has changed
We just grew apart
No-one is to blame
Woh, time has made us strangers
Maybe we can't go on
But if love can't take the changes
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't throw it all away
Cause I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
"Don't make me cry, girl
You're my girl"
Don't say goodbye to me
â??Cos I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
We could go alone
Saying things were fine
But we're just fooling ourselves
Maybe we should
Talk it out right now
And put things on the line
Everyone in love
Goes through times like these
It's just part of the game
I remember
I used to call your name
Woh, things don't have to be this way
Love is the answer now
Maybe we can start again today
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't throw it all away
Cause I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
"Don't make me cry, girl
You're my girl"
Don't say goodbye to me
â??Cos I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Woh, time has made us strangers
Maybe we can't go on
But if love can't take the changes
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't throw it all away
Cause I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
"Don't make me cry, girl
You're my girl"
I couldn't live without you, no
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
I want to spend my life with you
â??Cos I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
"Don't make me cry, girl
You're my girl" Don't say goodbye to me
â??Cos I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
Don't say goodbye, girl
Goodbye, girl
Don't throw it all away
Cause I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
"Don't make me cry, girl
You're my girl"
Don't say goodbye to me
â??Cos I love you
Yes I do (yes I do)
The lyrics of "Don't Say Goodbye" by Rick Astley describe a relationship that has lost its spark and is on the verge of ending. Astley sings of the good times he used to have with his partner and how much he still loves her. He acknowledges that things have changed and they have grown apart but insists that they don't have to end things if they can talk it out and start fresh.
The chorus of the song is a plea for his partner not to say goodbye and not to "throw it all away" because he loves her and couldn't live without her. Astley acknowledges that love isn't always easy and that relationships go through tough times, but he encourages his partner to stay with him and work through their problems together.
Overall, the lyrics of "Don't Say Goodbye" convey a sense of vulnerability and a desire for connection and communication in a relationship. Astley's passionate vocals and catchy melody add to the emotional impact of the song, making it a popular hit in the late 1980s.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't say goodbye, girl
Please do not leave me, my love
Don't make me cry, girl
I will be deeply hurt if you go away
Cause I love you
I am deeply in love with you
Used to have such fun
We had a lot of joyful moments in the past
Used to have good times
We enjoyed each other's company in the past
But now those days are gone
Those good times are now over
Used to have it all
We used to be happy and contented
Used to get on fine
We used to have a great relationship
But things just went wrong
Something happened that caused our relationship to deteriorate
Used to be in love
We were once deeply in love
Thought we had it made
We felt that our love was strong enough to last forever
But everything has changed
Something significant happened that changed our relationship forever
We just grew apart
Our love has faded away over time
No-one is to blame
Neither of us is responsible for the end of our love story
Woh, time has made us strangers
The time we have been apart has made us feel like we don't know each other anymore
Maybe we can't go on
Perhaps this relationship is over and we cannot revive it
But if love can't take the changes
If our love can't endure the changes, maybe it was not meant to last
Don't throw it all away
Let's not give up on this relationship too easily
We're just fooling ourselves
We are not being honest with ourselves about the state of our relationship
Maybe we should talk it out right now
Perhaps we should communicate and try to resolve our issues
And put things on the line
Let's be honest with each other and express our true feelings
Everyone in love goes through times like these
It is not unusual for couples to face challenges in their relationship
It's just part of the game
These ups and downs are part of the journey of love
I remember I used to call your name
I reminisce about the time when I would call out your name with love
Things don't have to be this way
Our relationship does not have to end this way
Love is the answer now
Let us use our love as a solution to our relationship problems
Maybe we can start again today
Perhaps we can rekindle our love and start anew today
I couldn't live without you, no
I cannot imagine living without you in my life
I want to spend my life with you
I want you to be with me for the rest of my life
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AITKEN, STOCK, WATERMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@CCelluloid26
Most people only know Astley for the Rick Roll, and they completely fail to acknowledge the fact how the dude is literally a shiny shrine of aesthetic late eighties and early nineties love songs.
@cristian-dante
First time I heard of rick was from a cassette my father recorded from the radio, I remember at that time had no internet, and after I got it, it took me several years to know he was a huge meme here. yes I didn't know english (i'm not native) so I could not read the comments lol
@CCelluloid26
@@cristian-dante
*Most people who were born after 1992-something
@ItzSpongeBobYT1999
Rick was one of the most popular male musicians of the late 80s, he is not only known for the rickroll
@markhariison4641
Legendary.
@salfordguy69
Rick had an amazing voice and was great match with PWL sound.
@Santtu0000
Rick is love, Rick is life.
@allangtz.7672
Yeah.
@user-ou9yo3lv1y
yeah ~
@tiefightergaming2912
yeah