Don’t worry, this one time you are not getting Rickrolled. On Wednesday (July 28) Rick Astley celebrated a monumental achievement for his massive 1987 single “Never Gonna Give You Up” — the pop bop that launched a million Rickrolls — when the breezy, cheesy clip joined the YouTube Billion Views Club.
“1 BILLION views for Never Gonna Give You Up on @YouTube ! Amazing, crazy, wonderful!” tweeted Astley in a video in which he celebrated the milestone while chilling on a beautiful lake. In an accompanying clip he said, “I’ve jus been told that ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ has been streamed a billion times on YouTube. That is mind-blowing. The world is a wonderful and beautiful place and I am very lucky.”
According to YouTube, the video that has become the source of one of the internet’s most beloved prank memes reached daily views of over 2.3 million on April 1. As part of the celebration of reaching the billion views milestone, Astley announced that he’s releasing a limited-edition (2,500) numbered and signed 7″ blue vinyl single.
Back in February, Astley got a kick out of a cover of one of his other iconic songs, “Together Forever,” from The Voice coaches Blake Shelton, Nick Jonas, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend.
Check out Astley’s celebratory tweets and the original video (no rolling, we promise) below.
To celebrate 1 Billion views for Never Gonna Give You Up I’m releasing a limited & numbered 7” blue vinyl of the song, 2500 of them and I’ll be signing them all! Rick ♥️https://t.co/AOVnRHFN2s
#NGGYU #NGGYU1Billion pic.twitter.com/V473EXct9a— Rick Astley (@rickastley) July 29, 2021
1 BILLION views for Never Gonna Give You Up on @YouTube ! Amazing, crazy, wonderful!
Rick ♥️https://t.co/mzyLznTr4R #NGGYU #NGGYU1Billion pic.twitter.com/p5xnn0OZcZ— Rick Astley (@rickastley) July 28, 2021
