Even teenagers today know who famous 80s pop star Rick Astley is. The reason? It’s because they know the term “rickrolling.” Ever click on what appears to be a great headline or link and you find yourself watching the 1987 video “Never Gonna Give You Up” by none other than Rick Astley?” If this has happened to you (and we’re sure it has) then you’ve been “rickrolled.”
The meme is one of the most popular on the internet and doesn’t appear to be losing any steam. Even Astley himself admits to the phenomenon saying, “I think it’s just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it. ” “But that’s what’s brilliant about the Internet.”
Astley rose to fame back in the 80s by scoring a couple number one singles in the UK, a platinum album as well as a Grammy nomination. And since “rickrolling” has skyrocketed his video have garnered millions upon millions of views on Youtube and other video sharing websites. Sounds like he might be entitled to some royalties right?
So how much does rickrolling earn the actual Rick himself? As of 2010 his whopping sum is $12. No, not 12 million. Twelve dollars. Why you might ask? This is because Astley didn’t write the song, so he only receives a performer’s share of the sound recording copyright. Astley himself doesn’t seem to have any hard feelings about rickrolling.
“Listen, I just think it’s bizarre and funny. My main consideration is that my daughter doesn’t get embarrassed about it.”
So will Rick try and capitalize on the meme with another song? “I don’t really know whether I want to be doing that,” he said. “I’m not being an ageist, but it’s almost a young person’s thing, that. I think the artist themselves trying to remix it is almost a bit sad. No, I’m too old for that.”
And for all you fans out there, did you really think we wouldn’t post a video?
