| Rick Astley |
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Richard Paul Astley (born February 6 , 1966 ) is a British Singer , songwriter and musician. He was born in Warrington , Cheshire , England . CAREER Rick Astley was a singer with a soul band named FBI playing the club circuit in England, when in 1985 he was seen by the Record Producer Pete Waterman and persuaded to come to London to work at the PWL recording studio. Under the tutelage of production trio Stock Aitken Waterman Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the studio tea boy! During much of his career prior to the proliferation of music videos, many listeners assumed Rick was a larger-than-live Black soul singer. His first single was the little-known "When You Gonna" credited to Rick & Lisa, but his first solo outing was "Never Gonna Give You Up", released in 1987 . It became an immediate success, spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. It was the first of no less than 13 (world-wide) top 30 hit singles for him. The album ''Whenever You Need Somebody'' also reached Number One in the UK, and the hit singles continued, including the title track and a cover of Nat King Cole 's " When I Fall In Love ". By January 1988 , "Never Gonna Give You Up" had also topped the U.S. singles chart and was followed by a second U.S. #1 in April with his second U.S. single release "Together Forever". By the end of the decade, Astley had parted company with Stock Aitken Waterman. He achieved one more major success with the 1991 Ballad "Cry For Help", which reached the Top 10 in both the UK and the U.S. It featured a gospel choir arranged by Andraé Crouch , who'd also been involved with Madonna 's 1989 hit " Like A Prayer ". For much of the 1990's and early 2000's Astley remained largely out of the spotlight by his own choice, allegedly because he didn't like flying around the world nor the media circus inherent with being a pop star, but also so that he could raise a family. In early 2006, Astley withdrew unexpectedly at the eleventh hour from appearing on the BBC TV celebrity/pro duets show '' Just The Two Of Us '' after committing to the series. This led to criticism from those in the entertainment industry and media. His place was filled by opera singer Russell Watson , who eventually won the competition. In 1991 the RIAA certified that two million copies of ''Whenever You Need Somebody'' had been sold. Total world sales of Astley's records (inclusive of singles, albums and compilation inclusions) have reached 40 million. TRIVIA
DISCOGRAPHY Canada Top data: for singles and albums from The Record magazine. U.S. Top data: for singles from The Billboard Hot 100 , for albums from The Billboard 200 ; UK Top data for singles and albums is from UK Singles Chart . Albums
Singles
Compilations
SEE ALSO
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