Rick Astley, known well by the 40-something crowd thanks to the 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up, is back at the top of the charts at age 50. Back in the 1980s, he was known as “the little man with the big voice,” a voice that continues to belt out hits.
After 29 years, the singer topped UK charts with his album suitably titled 50. Astley celebrated with his co-workers at Magic Radio, saying, “What an amazing day and an amazing feeling. The album 50 is all about celebrating my age and I’m not going to lie I’ve had a glass of champagne already and I’ll probably have a few more. It was 29 years ago since I’ve had a number one album. It was a homemade project. I took to my home studio to make the record. I wanted to mark my 50th year and this was a labour of love. Social media is an incredible thing and fans can tell you what they want and what they don’t want. If it wasn’t for them asking for new music I never would have had the confidence to do it without them.”
Astley pushed Tom Odell out of the number one spot, beating the artist by only 3,700 copies sold. Of course, Rick sold more hard copies of his current CD while Tom sold more digital copies and streams, according to The Official Chart Company.
Astley jokingly said, “I like Tom Odell. I bought his last album, and I’m going to buy this one as well, but I’ve held off from buying it this week!”