Having released his first album in six years on October 13, Rick Astley sat down for an interview with Classic Rock to talk about his career before ‘Are We There Yet?’ During the chat, he also mentioned his musical preferences by sharing his views on AC/DC’s two eras with Bon Scott and Brian Johnson:
“I say this with all respect to Brian Johnson, who has made so many amazing records with AC/DC, but for me, it’s ‘Highway To Hell.’ I fell in love with it when I heard Tommy Vance play it on the radio: ‘What is this?’ Bon had a cheek to him and so much personality in his voice.”
Revealing Dave Grohl’s approach to the 1979 album, he went on:
“I actually learned to play the drums by playing along to ‘Highway To Hell’ constantly. This is such a namedrop, but the first time I met Dave Grohl, we were having a couple of drinks, and we started talking about drumming. I told him I’d learned by playing along to ‘Highway To Hell,’ and he said, ‘My daughter’s learning to play drums right now, man! ‘Highway To Hell’ is exactly what I’ve got her playing.'”
Astley performed the record’s title track at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival as both a vocalist and a drummer. In addition to the cover, he sang his ‘Rickrolling’ song, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucSZ2N8DnBs
The singer’s ’80s hit helped him rise to fame in his early career. According to his words during the recent chat, it also brought along an encounter with Ozzy Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, when he first visited the US to promote it:
“He [Osbourne] said, ‘Are you over here playing?’ and I said, ‘No, we’re just doing promo. And then went, ‘If you want to put a band together, let me know. I’ve worked with all the greats.’ And I knew he had – he’d worked with some of the best guitar players on that planet.”
Although Sharon Osbourne meddled with these plans by saying Astley didn’t want to ‘play with your long-haired, tattoed f**king monsters,’ he recalled:
“I was gobsmacked. The fact that he recognized me for one thing, but also because he thought he could put together the appropriate band for me to go out and play ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ with. But what a lovely man for doing it.”
Rick Astley has an upcoming tour to support his latest album, kicking off in Sheffield, UK, on October 29. The tour stops will include Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands after the UK shows are over in March 2024.
