On Air Now
Smooth Breakfast with Eamonn Kelly 6am - 10am
Rick Astley reveals the reason he retired from music at 27
30 October 2024, 09:37
The singer had the world at his feet.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
After Rick Astley released his debut album Whenever You Need Somebody in 1987, which featured the iconic 'Never Gonna Give You Up', the singer quickly became a household name.
Astley was just 21 years old when he topped the charts in twenty-five different countries.
- The Story of... 'Never Gonna Give You Up' by Rick Astley
- Rick Astley facts: 'Never Gonna Give You Up' singer's age, wife, children and career revealed
- Sainsbury’s Christmas advert features Rick Astley and a cheesy surprise
But just six years later, he would decide to step back from his music career entirely.
Rick Astley doesn’t regret retiring music at 27
The catalyst for this life-changing decision would be a planned trip to America.
"I was going to America to do a big TV show in New York, and I developed a fear of flying," Astley tells This Morning hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond.
"I didn't want to get on planes anymore, which is hard to be an international pop star if you won't fly."
He also reveals the other key factor in his decision: his daughter, Emilie.
Rick Astley performs ' Never Gonna Give You Up'
"She was two," Rick continues, "I just didn't want to do it anymore."
For Astley, the fame and excitement of jetting across the world as an international popstar had been trumped by his family.
"I think in a way I replaced, that thing of fame and all of those things that I thought were going to help me fix me, If you want to say that, with my own family.
- Rick Astley has recreated his 1987 'Never Gonna Give You Up' music video and it's perfect
- RickRolling: A look back at the Rick Astley internet phenomenon that's still going strong
- Rick Astley's stunning cover of ABBA's 'Winner Takes it All' will give you goosebumps
"I thought, well, I've done that, I want to be at home," Rick says. "And I know that makes me out to be super dad – I wasn't super dad, in any way, shape or form.
"She's 32, our daughter now, but I was there. I was home and most people never get that chance, you know?"
Astley admits having money was a "luxury" that allowed him to retire from music at a young age.
"That's freedom, isn't it?" Rick tells the hosts.
He continues: "I think as much as, you know, I loved being on a stage and singing songs and having a career in music, it also kind of sometimes appeared that it was just like this nonsense sort of world and sort of got myself into.
"It didn't make any sense anymore because I hadn't done any growing."
Astley continues: "I'd been from like a teenager in bands at school and after school and all the rest of it, and then kind of got into this situation where it blew up on and off it goes.
"After four or five years of it, you suddenly realise, well, is this what I really, really want? And, now I've got the balance."
Rick Astley performs cover of ABBA hit 'The Winner Takes It All'
It would be a while until Rick Astley returned to the music scene.
There was one event that nudged the singer to perform live again – once again spurred on by his daughter.
"My wife and daughter wanted to go to Japan," Astley explains. He reveals that as soon as an offer to perform in Japan came through, they told him: "We're going."
Rick admits, "I think actually going and singing the old songs again in front of an actual audience rather than at a friend's wedding, was just such an amazing thing.
"I think the actual the experience of playing live, that's where the absolute joy is."
The singer released his ninth studio album Are We There Yet? in 2023 and headed on tour in the UK, Ireland and Europe that same year, culminating in spring this year.
His memoir, Never: The Autobiography, hit shelves on October 10, 2024.
