Real Life of Rick Astley - marriage, internet pranks and quitting pop on the hard shoulder of the motorway

It's been a magic few years for pop icon Rick Astley. Not only has he appeared on stage at Glastonbury – singing Smiths covers alongside Stockport Indie rockers, Blossoms, but also with his own hit solo set in 2023.

And it hasn't stopped there. In 2021, his '80s superhit, 'Never Gonna Give You Up', became only the fourth song released during that decade to reach one billion views on YouTube. And last year he released the top 10 album with 'Are We There Yet?'.

Most recently Rick, 58, was the main act at a test gig for the ill-fated opening of Manchester's new Co-op Live arena. None of the arena's well-documented troubles were down to the '80s pop songster, he was on top form getting the audience up and dancing with new material, some classics and a few perfectly chosen covers.

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So with his undeniable success and cult status, it's hard to imagine why Rick Astley, at the age of 27 and at the height of his fame, quit his own pop career on the hard shoulder of the motorway back in 1993.

At the time Rick and his manager were on their way to London to catch a flight to the US. "I developed a fear of flying," Rick previously said - recalling his darkest hour.

"I remember it so vividly. I was with my manager, in a car on the way to Heathrow Airport to go to New York, and I had tears in my eyes.

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"I got out of the car and just stood on the hard shoulder and said: 'I can't do this any more'. It had been building up.

"I was going over to do The David Letterman Show – a real big deal, and my record was beginning to do things in America, but I just could not do it."

Rick went home, shut the door, and – from being one of the world's biggest singing stars just a couple of years previously – chose to go back to obscurity. But the truth is, Rick Astley has never been your average, cookie-cutter pop star.

This is something that has seemingly always been at odds with a pop career that began with signing up with Stock Aitken and Waterman (SAW). The songwriters and producers whose repeated successes with various artists was thanks to an assembly line of hits they churned out, one-after-the-other, in the 1980s.

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Rick was born in Warrington in 1966 and brought up in Newton-le-Willows. His parents split up when he was four and he, his two brothers and sister were brought up by his father.

During his teenage years, he joined a local band, FBI, initially as a drummer. But it was his deep and soulful voice that gave him his big break, rather than his talent with the sticks.

He was spotted singing in a Warrington social club in 1984 by producer Pete Waterman, then of the hit-making partnership, Stock Aitken Waterman. Rick moved to London and served his apprenticeship as a studio tape operator-cum tea boy at their hit-making empire.

"I did literally make tea for Bananarama, Dead Or Alive, Mel and Kim – everyone who put out a record before me, I probably made tea for them on sessions," Rick previously said.

But he was given his chance after serving his time at the studio, releasing his debut single 'When You Gonna' in 1987. But it was his next single 'Never Gonna Give You Up' that skyrocketed him to success.

The song was the best selling single that year, spending five weeks at number one in the UK charts, as well as being a number one hit in 24 countries around the world including America, Australia and West Germany. His debut album 'Whenever You Need Somebody' also reached number one in the UK and Australian charts and made the top 10 in the US.

During six years as a recording artist, Rick had notched up 13 Top 30 singles, sold more than 40m records worldwide, and won Best British single at the BPI (renamed Brit) Awards. But with a growing dissatisfaction at the music industry, and having recently become a father, he walked away from showbiz in 1993.

Rick told the M.E.N back in 2011: "I was content. I'd had my time in the charts and made loads of money. I was no longer hungry for success. I'd also developed a fear of flying, which was strange after the amount I'd done, so that was that."

Despite his decision to quit, Rick's heartbroken fans remained loyal particularly his massive fan-base in the US. In 2003, he married the now renowned Danish film producer, Lene Bausager.

They first met in 1988 when she was working as a music producer for his new record label RCA. It was the birth of their daughter, Emilie, in 1992 that he suspects may have been part of the reason he decided to quit pop and enjoy a more settled home life.

"My daughter had been born, and maybe that, subconsciously, had something to do with it," he said. "A few light bulbs were clicking on in my head to say there's more to life than living out of a suitcase."

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Despite stepping away, he carried on writing and released a couple of albums which, in spite of his refusal to promote them, did well particularly The Greatest Hits in 2002 and The Ultimate Collection in 2008.

But it was in 2007 when Rick became a viral internet meme – one of the first of its kind – that he became back under the spotlight. Known as Rick-rolling, it involved an unexpected appearance of the music video for 'Never Gonne Give You Up' as an international prank.

Reflecting on the bizarre trend, he told the M.E.N he said he owed the revitalised interest in his career to the viral sensation: "I suspect I owe it all to Rick-rolling, which I’m told is an internet joke where you click on a certain link – which changes frequently – and you see me singing 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. If that's what got me on that parade, I'm grateful, but I haven’t a clue who started it all."

In 2008, Tony Denton, the promoter behind the phenomenally successful '80s music Here and Now tours, persuaded Rick to jump aboard the nostalgia bandwagon. He dipped a toe in the water by doing three shows in Japan and found he enjoyed it. It was the first chance that his daughter Emilie, then 16, had to see her dad as a pop star.

"I'd always said I was over it, but I got an offer to go to Japan, and Lene and Emilie wanted to go," he said. "It was with the other groups of my era, heritage acts, has-beens, whatever you call us. I loved it."

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Since the late Noughties, the pop Lazarus' decision to return to performing has only seen his stock continue to climb. In 2016, his album '50' unexpectedly hit number one in the charts – his first chart-topping album since his debut back in 1987.

Soon after he was on stage with rock gods the Foo Fighters singing 'Never Gonna Give You Up' - and performing their song 'Everlong' in his own sets. In 2021, he went on tour with Blossoms despite every member of the band being not far off half his age. And the following summer he was filling arenas in the US as part of nostalgia tour with other '80s and '90s bands like New Kids On The Block and En-Vogue.

Rick and Lene now live in Surrey while their daughter Emilie lives in Denmark, the Mirror reported in December 2022. And the '80s pop icon seems to have learned to take his newfound fame with a much more relaxed stride – even appearing for an interview on BBC Breakfast in 2023 wearing pyjamas ahead of his big Glastonbury gig.

Rick Astley, not your average pop star – that's for sure.