Latest news with #NeverGonnaGiveYouUp
Perth Now
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Rick Astley worries about female pop stars
Rick Astley worries about female pop stars being "coerced" into stripping off onscreen. The Never Gonna Give You Up hitmaker - who shot to fame in the 1980s - has admitted he feels uncomfortable seeing young women in the music industry wearing skimpy outfits in their videos as he fears they could be shedding their clothes due to pressure rather than feeling "comfy". He told The Sunday Times newspaper: "I sometimes see the videos that some women are in - controversial as this may be - and I just go: 'I hope you decided that. I hope you decided to wear that and you're comfy with that. That you've not been kind of like slightly coerced into it'. "Or that you've not been like: 'She went down to almost nothing - so I'm gonna go down to practically nothing'." Rick also admitted he's glad he didn't become famous in the age of social media, adding: "I would not want to be starting out with a music career right now because it's just so alien to me … I think a lot of people are struggling because of the social media thing and it can eat you." The 59-year-old singer admitted he spent years healing because fame was so difficult to deal with and it took a lot of therapy for him to be able to move forward with his life. He explained: "I was probably a bit messed up. I don't think anybody goes through that kind of 15 minutes of fame and doesn't come away with a few scars … "I think it's weird I had this crazy monster hit around the world and no one ever took me aside and said: 'By the way, here's a few tips, here are a few hints.' "I didn't really know who I was a lot of the time. I kind of thought: 'Who have I just been for five years?' Part of it was definitely me, but a lot of it wasn't." It comes after Rick was recently asked to name his biggest disappointment in life and he admitted it was "fame". He told told the Guardian newspaper: "Fame. The upside is not worth the downside - you can't turn fame on and off, and have privacy."
Perth Now
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Rick Astley would sing The Smiths' songs 'every weekend' - but Blossoms don't need him
Rick Astley would do another Songs of The Smiths tour - but he doesn't think he can get Blossoms back on stage. The Never Gonna Give You Up hitmaker was backed by the British indie band for two shows in Kentish Town, London where they played tracks by the seminal 1980s Manchester band, including This Charming Man, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, Ask and There Is a Light That Never Goes Out. The collaboration between Rick and Blossoms even saw them play Glastonbury Festival in 2023, and the 59-year-old singer admits he would do that tribute to Morrissey and Johnny Marr's former band "every weekend" but he thinks Blossoms - fronted by guitarist-and-vocalist Tom Ogden - are too busy enjoying their own success to do more concerts. Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the O2 Silver Clef Awards in London on Wednesday night (02.07.25), Rick said: "I think Blossoms don't need me for anything to be honest, they're doing alright by themselves. "I talk to the guys all the time and we have a real bond over that music. Even though generationally we're in different time spaces, we both absolutely love those songs and those records. As fun as it was to do - I'd do it every weekend - they've got a whole career going on. We'll see, who knows? "I think we've always got that memory. I think it was such a wonderful thing to do. "I'd always had this fantasy of singing those songs at some point. I was just going to get a band together and do it in a local pub. I chatted to them about that on their podcast and before you know what you're doing we'd go in a room and played those songs, I was practically crying and I just said, 'We've got to do this.' We were just going to do it in a pub in Stockport but we've got friends in high places so we got to do it somewhere else." Rick has been to watch 61-year-old Marr's solo shows and has been blown away by his interpretation of his own songs, replacing The Smiths singer Morrissey on vocals. But Astley has never met Marr, 61, to ask him what he though of his interpretation of The Smiths back catalogue. Rick added: "I've seen Johnny Marr sing those songs in the last year or two and it's amazing. They're just amazing songs, I think. "I've never met him. I think he's got bigger fish to fry and he's not worried about what anyone else is doing." At the O2 Silver Clef Awards - which raised £715,000 and counting for Nordoff and Robbins, the UK's largest music therapy charity - Astley was presented with with the Outstanding Achievement in Music Award by Alistair Norbury (BMG), acknowledging both his 1980s legacy and contemporary reinvention as a beloved performer. Astley - who was photographed with his trophy by Dominika Scheibinger - admitted it was an honour to receive the accolade because he has seen first hand the incredible work Nordoff and Robbins does. He said: "Everyone needs a bit of help at some point – if you see the work Nordoff and Robbins do, you feel extremely humbled. This is truly important. You realise what music can do. It's given me a life I am unbelievably grateful for."
The Independent
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rick Astley gives honest take on ‘Never Gonna Give You Up'
Rick Astley says his hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up' is 'ingrained' in him, reflecting on its lasting impact at the Silver Clef Awards 2025 in London on Wednesday evening (2 July). 'If you cut me open, it says 'Never Gonna Give You Up' in the middle,' he told The Independent at the ceremony where he was presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Music award. The song recently surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify, amounting to more than 6,700 years of continuous listening. 'I'm kind of super grateful that I am the age I am, and I started in the eighties because we didn't have social media, we didn't even have the internet,' he said. 'I think things were a little bit softer and fuzzier back then.'
The Independent
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rick Astley reflects on lasting impact of his biggest hit as he picks up Silver Clef award
Rick Astley says his hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up' is 'ingrained' in him, reflecting on its lasting impact at the Silver Clef Awards 2025 in London on Wednesday evening (2 July). 'If you cut me open, it says 'Never Gonna Give You Up' in the middle,' he told The Independent at the ceremony where he was presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Music award. The song recently surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify, amounting to more than 6,700 years of continuous listening. 'I'm kind of super grateful that I am the age I am, and I started in the eighties because we didn't have social media, we didn't even have the internet,' he said. 'I think things were a little bit softer and fuzzier back then.'
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The ear of insight, the eye of impact
In the dynamic landscape of modern marketing, brilliant ideas don't emerge in a vacuum; they are meticulously crafted and strategically deployed. Creative Strategy at Cannes Lions honors the profound insights, meticulous planning, and strategic direction that serve as the fundamental blueprint for truly impactful creative work, addressing complex business challenges or seizing unique market opportunities. Complementing this, Creative Effectiveness celebrates the demonstrable and measurable impact of these creative solutions on tangible business results. It's about rigorously proving how innovative thinking and strategic intent translate directly into growth, market share, enhanced brand equity, or transformative behavioral change. Together, these categories underscore that true creative triumph stems from a robust "why" driving the "what," validated by compelling, real-world outcomes that propel businesses forward. This segment focuses on Creative Strategy and Creative Effectiveness, exploring campaigns where exceptional strategic foresight and execution led to demonstrable and significant business impact, showcasing the full arc from insightful planning to measurable success for businesses and brands. Creative Effectiveness The Misheard Version - Specsavers, Golin London "The Misheard Version" campaign for Specsavers, developed in collaboration with Golin London, was an innovative and highly engaging initiative designed to subtly underscore the critical importance of regular hearing tests. The campaign leveraged a pervasive and often humorous online cultural phenomenon: the tendency for people to debate or misinterpret song lyrics. Specsavers strategically partnered with iconic musician Rick Astley to re-record his globally recognised hit song, "Never Gonna Give You Up." Crucially, this new version featured deliberately altered, or "misheard," lyrics. By presenting a beloved and familiar song with incorrect or comically distorted words, the campaign immediately piqued listeners' curiosity. It compelled them to actively question what they were hearing and, by extension, reflect on the accuracy of their own auditory perception. This indirect, yet highly effective, approach prompted individuals to consider their own hearing health and subtly encouraged them to seek out hearing tests, transforming a common online quirk into a powerful public health message. Don't Drink Hertog Jan - Hertog Jan, Gut Amsterdam Hertog Jan, a distinctive craft beer brand based in Amsterdam, launched the "Don't Drink Hertog Jan" campaign in collaboration with Gut Amsterdam, ingeniously challenging conventional norms within the beer category. Operating without the substantial media budgets of major beer conglomerates and facing intense competition, Hertog Jan pivoted its strategy to intensely emphasize its core strengths: superior craft and exceptional quality. Rather than promoting immediate consumption, the brand's provocative message encouraged consumers to age their beer, asserting that its complex flavors and characteristics would only deepen and improve over time, much like a fine wine. To support and facilitate this unique proposition, Hertog Jan went beyond mere messaging: they established a dedicated physical cellar where loyal customers could store their purchased beer under optimal conditions. Additionally, the brand provided comprehensive guidance and tips for consumers interested in home aging their beer, democratising the process. This innovative approach carved out a distinct brand proposition in a crowded market, fostering a unique "beer aging" culture and community around its product, transforming how consumers engaged with and perceived craft beer. Creative Strategy The AI President - An-Nahar Newspaper, Impact BBDO Dubai An-Nahar Newspaper in Lebanon, in collaboration with Impact BBDO Dubai, launched the "The AI President" initiative to critically address the nation's severe political instability, particularly the prolonged and detrimental vacuum created by the absence of a sitting president. The campaign was founded on the insight that traditional political efforts to appoint a head of state were often perceived by the public as being driven by hidden agendas and self-interest, rather than genuine public welfare. To counter this, An-Nahar developed an "The AI President" – an artificial intelligence model meticulously trained on years of the newspaper's vast archives of reporting, journalistic insights, and public discourse. This sophisticated AI was engineered to function as a digital voice of the people. Its role was to propose objective policies, suggest new laws, and offer recommendations directly to the government, all designed to serve the collective public interest. By creating a transparent, algorithm-driven "president," An-Nahar powerfully urged Lebanon's politicians to abandon their stalemates and seriously address the urgent need for a legitimate and publicly-oriented head of state for the nation. The initiative served as both a commentary on the political deadlock and a tangible demonstration of what objective leadership could look like. Humanimal Tourism - ProColombia, DDB Colombia Bogotá ProColombia, the government agency responsible for promoting tourism, in collaboration with DDB Colombia Bogotá, developed the innovative "Humanimal Tourism" campaign. This initiative aimed to powerfully highlight Colombia's extraordinary biodiversity and attract a new segment of visitors to the country. The campaign was built upon a compelling and unique insight: while Colombia ranked approximately 50th globally in human tourist visits, it held the remarkable distinction of being the fourth most visited country worldwide by migratory animal species. Leveraging this compelling data, Colombia Tourism undertook extensive efforts to track the migratory patterns of various wildlife species across the country's diverse ecosystems. Based on this intricate understanding, they then meticulously designed tourism promotions and recommended specific travel times for human tourists, aligning them with the periods when particular migratory species would be present and most visible. This strategic alignment allowed human visitors a unique opportunity to observe these natural phenomena in their prime. Crucially, the campaign also incorporated a strong sustainable tourism component: promotions for specific viewing areas were actively halted once natural capacity limits were reached. This proactive measure prevented overcrowding, minimised ecological impact and underscored a commitment to protecting both the wildlife and their habitats. (At BE Extraordinary, a series about the winners at Cannes Lions in collaboration with Harsh Kapadia, CCO, Grey India, we peer outside the Grand Prix, and look at clutter breaking work that picked the silvers and the bronzes, but don't often get discussed.)
