Rick Astley speaks about positive fan reactions to his career comeback

He’s the 80s pop icon whose breakout hit Never Gonna Give You Up transformed him from a local crooner to an overnight global pop sensation.

And now, Rick Astley, who quit music in 1993 at the height of his stardom, is continuing his career revival with an Australian tour later this month.

In a candid interview, the English singer sat down with The Daily Telegraph on Sunday to discuss how ‘everything has changed’ for him in the past five years.

Rick made a cultural comeback in 2007, becoming an Internet phenomenon when the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up became integral to the meme known as ‘rickrolling’. 

He then broke his 23-year hiatus from music in 2016 with the album ’50’, and follow-up ‘Beautiful Life’ album in 2018. 

‘Everything has changed a little bit here because of 50 going to No. 1,’ Rick said of his comeback album becoming a hit among fans. 

He added: ‘When I go into a coffee shop here and people recognise me, the bizarre thing is that’s been really, really nice.’   

Rick went on to admit that at 53 years of age, he’s better equipped at dealing with the trials and tribulation that fame brings.

‘Going back to when I was a kid and all that [fame] happened, I did feel under pressure sometimes,’ he said.

He went on to reveal that as a young man, he ‘didn’t know what was going on’ half the time, and that there was always a lingering feeling of ‘expectation’ with his work and his looks.

Rick opened up for the first time about his shock retirement in 1993, telling the Herald Sun: ‘I’d had enough; people had probably had enough of me. So I quit’

Rick, who was only 19 years old when the song came out in 1987, described how the track ultimately pigeonholed him as far as music was concerned.  

Since coming out of retirement, Rick has had back-to-back hits in the UK and is heading Down Under with fellow 80s band a-ha this month.

He previously told the Herald Sun that although he was never considered ‘cool’ as a youngster, it has since been a blessing as he has got older, especially after he reemerged on the music scene.

‘People don’t expect me to turn up looking like a rock star, which is great, because I don’t. And surely even they just want to wear a tracksuit sometimes,’ he said.

Rick Astley’s nationwide Australian tour begins in Perth on February 19.