Rick Astley

Richard Paul Astley (born February 6, 1966) is a British singer, songwriter and musician. He was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England.

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Rick Astley was a singer with a band 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 Stock Aitken Waterman Astley was taught about the recording process and was groomed for his future career.

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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.

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The album Whenever You Need Somebody also reached Number One in the UK, and the hit singles continued.

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By January 1988, Never Gonna Give You Up had also topped the US singles chart and was followed by a second US #1 in April with his second US single release Together Forever.

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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 US.

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In 1991 the RIAA certified that two million copies of Whenever You Need Somebody had been sold.

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After over a decade away from the UK and US charts via a successful turn in Germany, the question "Whatever happened to Rick Astley?" will soon be answered with a new album and UK tour imminent in October 2005.

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February 6: February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 328 days remaining, 329 in leap years....

1966: 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar)...

British: The word British has several different uses. See the article on Britain for more details on the development and use of the word Britain....

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