Why I disappeareds pp for a DECADE

Rick Astley was already a millionaire when he had a breakdown at 27. Here he reveals what brought it on – and how he got his mojo back

‘My voice has become mature, it’s more me’

Rick Astley is the kind of man who, if he were $20 up at a casino in Vegas, would call it a night. He’s the epitome of knowing how to quit when you’re ahead. And, a millionaire at the age of 27 with a string of number ones after his first hit Never Gonna Give You Up – which topped the charts in 25 countries in 1987 – he did just that.

One day in 1993, on his way to Heathrow to fly to New York, he had a breakdown on the M4 – not one a mechanic can fix. It was an emotional breakdown brought on by the terror of leaving his wife Lene and baby girl Emilie at home. He wasn’t a good flier anyway, and he’d seen how fame can destroy relationships. He now had a choice to make: family or fame. So, having sold millions of records, he skipped the flight and retired.

‘Having Emilie in 1992 changed what I wanted in life,’ he says. ‘The music business is littered with people losing the plot. I was already taking trains and driving in Europe, I didn’t want to fly any more. I had control over nothing. I’d made enough money to say, “I don’t need to do this.”’

And so he pretty much disappeared for more than ten years, until an invitation to join the 80s tribute tour Here And Now in 2007. ‘I’d always said I was over it, but I got an offer to go to Japan, and Lene and Emilie wanted to go. It was with other groups of my era, heritage acts, has-beens, whatever you call us. I loved it.’

But it was the internet phenomenon Rickrolling the same year that had everyone talking about Rick Astley again. Pranksters put a link to the video for Never Gonna Give You Up into random websites. When users clicked on it, the video popped up unexpectedly. Within a year more than 18 million people had been Rickrolled. ‘People would pay a fortune for that exposure,’ he laughs.

He dabbled with the odd single until, when he was about to hit 50 three years ago, he wrote new songs inspired by his life. He recorded them in his garage, played every instrument, and called the a l b um 50 . T h e No 1 record went platinum and now he’s releasing a greatest hits album, The Best Of Me, feat u r i ng h is spe ct acula rly deep voice and new versions of his Stock Aitken

Waterman back catalogue alongside the originals. ‘If the songs are 30 years old, you want to do something different, but people still want them,’ he says of hits such as Together Forever.

His voice is different now, richer with the emotions of a life lived. ‘It’s matured over the years,’ he says. ‘A great thing about working from home is there’s no clock ticking. If I’m in the mood, I’ll sing. But if my voice doesn’t get better I’ll say, “Let’s leave it as it is.” It’s more me, this voice.’

He doesn’t mind being called a heritage act – he’s cool now in a way he wasn’t before. Even Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl is a fan – in 2017 he dragged Rick up on stage in Japan. ‘I’d had a few beers, I was jet-lagged,’ says Rick. ‘I was watching them on stage when Dave had me up to sing Never Gonna Give You Up!’

It’s far from his humble beginnings, singing in a church choir in Lancashire. ‘You’re in a gang, that’s what bands are,’ he says. ‘My parents divorced when I was four, and that time was unhappy. I lived with Dad, but Mum was around the corner. I was the youngest of five but their second child David died of meningitis before I was born.’ Was David’s death a catalyst for their split? ‘I don’t think that was the only thing. I was young but I knew something wasn’t right, so it was nice to get out of the house. A choir’s not rock’n’roll, but it is music.’

His talents come from his parents. ‘My mum was a professional pianist until a few years ago and my father has a big, powerful voice. He’d sing Frank Sinatra around the house, although his lyrics were never quite the same! Because of him, I was never shy about singing.

‘I became the frontman of a band after joining as the drummer, and Pete Waterman saw us and liked my voice. He wasn’t a big deal then, but he had a studio in London. I was writing songs, but I worked there as a tea boy to learn more.’

His first single Never Gonna Give You Up was a huge hit, and as the Stock Aitken Waterman juggernaut picked up steam wit h t he l ikes of Kyl ie Minogue, Jason Donova n a nd Sinitta, Rick had seven more Top Ten singles over the next four years. ‘But Stock Aitken Waterman started making it about themselves, not their artists. They felt, “It’s our productions that are doing it.” Besides me, not many of their artists wrote their own songs. I guess I was naive to think that as a pop star I should have some say in what I was doing. But it was all getting monotonous.’

All of this contributed to his meltdown. But now, Rick’s back. ‘With Stock Aitken Waterman, I was just a kid. But I still see Pete, he pops up at things. I was lucky to meet him at the right time.’ And to quit while he was ahead.