Rick Astley performs at Glastonbury on June 24, 2023.Photo:BBC
BBC
Rick Astleyis rocking out!
The “Never Gonna Give You Up” singer, 57, took to the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival in England on Saturday to sing a cover ofAC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” — while alsoplaying the drums.
“When I was a kid, my first experience of being in a band was playing the drums, and I’ve had many dreams in my life and one of my dreams was to perform at Glastonbury and that dream has come true today,” Astley told the crowd at the festival in Somerset, England.
“To make it even possibly bigger — which I don’t know how we possibly could — is for me to play drums to the first record that I learned to play the drums to,” he continued.
“I was a 15-year-old kid in my dad’s greenhouse and I played this album to death. I broke this record learning the drums to it,” revealed Astley about the 1978 album of the same name, which also includes rock classics “Shot Down in Flames” and “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).”
Elsewhere in his set, the ‘80s star also coveredHarry Styles’ “As It Was", alongside a medley of his own hits.
Fittingly, he closed the show with his 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” as he gave thanks to everyone involved in the set-up, adding that he “never dreamed” he’d get to play at the U.K.s most famous music festival.
Rick Astley performs at Glastonbury on June 24, 2023.Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterstock
Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterstock
Clad in a pink suit, black T-shirt and white sneakers, Astley even got the security team dancing along to his most famous hit with him as he asked the crowd, “One more chorus?”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The singer-songwriter has continued to certify his status as an ‘80s pop icon having recently recreated his “Never Gonna Give You Up” video,35 years after it was first released.
The 57-year-old appeared in a CSAA YouTube video, wearing AAA merchandise as a dancer checked off a list telling viewers all the things insurance will never do to them.
The singer appeared in three different outfits and backdrops — similar to his original video — until he asked the other versions of himself, “Is this still a thing?”
The recreation came after the single became an internet meme with the “rickrolling” phenomenon. The official music video to the song has now hit1.4 billion views on YouTube.
source: people.com
