Rick Astley is officially part of streaming royalty. His 1987 breakout hit Never Gonna Give You Up has just crossed one billion streams on Spotify, thanks to a combination of timeless synth-pop charm and a second life as the internet’s most famous meme.
He marked the milestone on Instagram, saying:
“So who would’ve believed after all these years Never Gonna Give You Up has had a billion streams on Spotify. That’s a billion streams. How amazing. Thank you for listening and lots of love, and I’ll see you all soon.”
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Originally released as part of his debut album Whenever You Need Somebody, the track topped charts in over 20 countries and helped launch Astley’s global career. But its modern-day resurgence came from the viral “Rickrolling” prank, where users are tricked into watching the music video instead of whatever link they were expecting to click on.
“I don’t think you can really have any bad thoughts about an Internet prank that turned your song into a global moment,” Astley said in a previous interview.
In his 2024 memoir Never, he admitted:
“I don’t know how my career would have turned out without Rickrolling. But it would be stupid to say it hasn’t ultimately done me a lot of good.”
The music video now boasts over 1.6 billion views on YouTube.
Astley also reflected on the journey in a recent statement:
“I never could have imagined back in 1987 that Never Gonna Give You Up would still be going strong decades later. Thanks to streaming platforms, a whole new generation has been able to discover music like mine. Reaching one billion streams is something I never dreamed of and to everyone who’s ever listened, thank you.”
Despite being best known for Never Gonna Give You Up, Astley’s catalogue goes far beyond one hit. Songs like Together Forever, Cry for Help, and She Wants to Dance with Me all enjoyed chart success, and his most recent album Are We There Yet? reached No. 2 on the UK albums chart in 2023.
Astley joins a select group of artists in Spotify’s “Billions Club,” rubbing shoulders with Taylor Swift, The Killers, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Billy Joel. Fewer than 1,000 tracks have ever hit the milestone.
“One hit is all you need,” Astley once joked, and now he’s got a billion reasons to believe it.
