Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Rick Astley "Together Forever"
Imagine retiring at the ripe age of 27. That's exactly what Rick Astley did in 1994. The eternally baby-faced Astley was just 19 years old when his first hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up", topped the charts in 1987. Over the next five years, he charted eight Top 10 hits in the UK with five in the United States, and he needed a break. Astley stepped out of the public eye, raised his daughter and lived a relatively "normal" life for the first time. He later released a couple of albums in the 2000s and then there was the whole Rick-rolling thing, but it was a chance encounter with Dave Grohl that re-introduced him to the world in 2017. The two met briefly at a music festival in Japan before Grohl brought Astley on stage and launched into a version of "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the style of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The crowd went nuts and now the 52 year-old Astley is hitting the road again for his first world tour since the 1990s. He's playing Chicago's House of Blues on April 26th.