Even though Rick Astley regained popularity over the past years because of the viral meme "rick-roll," he almost never went back into pursuing pop music and decided to put the genre on hold for 15 years. Today, the singer is candidly opening up about the reason behind it.
The 56-year-old singer appeared on Questlove's "Questlove Supreme" podcast, where he finally revealed why he gave up pop music for 15 years.
According to Audacy, Astley's career in the early 90s became successful after the release of his album "Free."
This allowed him to work with several musicians, and the record saw commercial success, giving him another album that landed on the top 10 charts.
However, the following album, "Body & Soul," was far from the success that the previous one amassed, something that he's never used to.
"The next couple of singles we released didn't really do anything, we didn't get them anywhere near the charts," he said.'
Astley then questioned why it didn't hit because the songs on that album were "more like pop."
His record label, RCA Records, then hired new employees to work on his record in hopes of it becoming popular, but the singer said it made things more complicated.
The situation made him realize that "unless your record company really wants it to happen unless they're really on board, you've got no chance really."
After that, Astley retired from making music to focus on his family life. He made a comeback in 2000 by releasing "Sleeping" and the record "Keep It Turned On" the following year.
The singer's name became popular again in 2007 as the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became a meme phenomenon.
Since then, he has had a successful career as he released "Lights Out" in 2010. Years later, he released "50" to celebrate his 50th birthday.
The album debuted in the United Kingdom at the top of the charts.
According to Songkick, the singer is currently touring in the United States. His next show will be at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
He will visit several cities like Lexington, Philadelphia, Elmont, Uncasville, Mount Pleasant, Atlantic City, Greenville, and more, before wrapping up at Washington DC's Capital One Arena.
Following this, Astley will take a break for a few days before going on the European leg of his tour.
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