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Never Gonna Give You Up was released by English singer Rick Astley in 1987 as the lead single from his debut album Whenever You Need Somebody, and it became a worldwide number-one hit. Two decades later, the song became the centre of Rickrolling, an internet prank in which a misleading link unexpectedly plays the music video instead of the promised content. The joke spread through forums, social media and video platforms in the late 2000s and never fully faded, because the song is catchy, instantly recognisable and harmless enough to work across generations of online humour.
About this sound
The opening of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, the classic Rickroll song used to surprise viewers in pranks, memes and reaction videos.
This clip captures the instantly recognisable opening of Rick Astley's 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up, starting with its bright drum beat and synth hook before Astley's smooth, confident vocal comes in. It sounds polished, upbeat and deliberately earnest, which is exactly why it works as a surprise. Listeners expect something serious, dramatic or revealing, then hear the familiar chorus instead and immediately understand the joke. The effect is playful rather than mean, turning a bait-and-switch moment into a shared reference that most viewers recognise within a second or two.
