Person
Rick Astley
Arts, Music & Media
Digital CultureWho is Rick Astley in the Agency editorial?
Rick Astley is an English singer, known for the 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up and for the Rickroll, the internet prank that sends people to its video. Issue.14, the edition about music, presents him as its first musician, under a heading with his name, and recommends two of his songs.
In short
Rick Astley is an English singer whose 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up became the target of the Rickroll, an internet prank. In the Agency editorial he appears only in Issue.14, the edition about music. The author introduces him without the name, as a British singer whose video internet trolls linked to under false promises, and then gives him a section headed "Rick Astley", with the subtitle "And the true resilience of an artist". The section says: "Rick Astley is a contemporary genius for his persistence." Two recommendation boxes follow, for the songs Angels On My Side and Lights Out.
Key facts
- Who is Rick Astley?
- An English singer, known for the 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up, whose video became the destination of the internet prank called the Rickroll.
- Where does the Agency editorial name Rick Astley?
- Only in Issue.14, the edition about music. He has his own section there, in the author's prose, and two recommendation boxes carry his name.
- What does Issue.14 say about him?
- That he is "a contemporary genius for his persistence". The author addresses him directly as "Mr. Astley" and recommends the songs Angels On My Side and Lights Out.
Who is Rick Astley?
Rick Astley is an English singer, born in 1966. He is known for the song Never Gonna Give You Up, released in 1987, and for the Rickroll, an internet prank in which a link that promises something else leads to the video of that song. These facts come from outside the edition and are marked for verification.
How does Rick Astley appear in Issue.14?
Issue.14 calls him the first musician of the edition and its example of human resilience in music. Before naming him, the author describes a British singer who, in the edition's words, became a global phenomenon in the 2000s with the rise of internet memes, when links to supposedly secret content sent people to his music video. The section headed with his name has the subtitle "And the true resilience of an artist", shows his Spotify numbers and embeds a video.
The author then asks the reader to imagine a singer whose track becomes a global hit because people turned it into a meme and mocked it, and who does not give up. The passage ends: "Rick Astley is a contemporary genius for his persistence." Two recommendation boxes follow, with lyrics from Angels On My Side and Lights Out, and the author comments on how optimistic the first lyrics are and on the hope and energy of the second song.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.