Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, a music video so profoundly synonymous with early internet culture, has surpassed a billion views on YouTube.
The 1987 video — which was uploaded almost 12 years ago — hit the 1 billion views mark on YouTube on Wednesday.
I’m going to need an official breakdown of how many of those views were directly owed to “Rickrolling.” If you live in a comfortable silo in which that word means literally nothing to you, congratulations!
“Rickrolling” is a time-honoured internet prank in which somebody shares a misleading link promising something — that leads to the saccharine dance-pop music video. As Variety note, on April Fool’s Day 2021, the music video topped 2.3 million views.
“I think it’s just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it. That’s what’s brilliant about the internet,” the singer said of the Rickrolling phenomena in a 2008 interview with the L.A. Times.
‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ is the fourth music video from the 80s to hit the billionaires club, joining the company of Guns N’ Roses ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’, A-ha’s ‘Take on Me,’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean.’
In celebration of the momentous occasion, Rick Astley has announced a special re-release of his ubiquitous single. Astley will be flogging 2,500 numbered 7-inch blue vinyl copies of the single. The best part… they’re signed. To hell with NFTs, we’re bringing memes to the physical realm.
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Check out ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley
Back in February, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ scored a gloriously clear 4k remastering — for only the most decadent trolls.
