Pop and rock music is known for its adventurous alliances. Mixes of styles, crossovers, Heino with Rammstein at the festival in Wacken. Nothing is impossible, everything is possible.
In a conversation with “Classic Rock” magazine, Rick Astley, the hit singer of the 1980s producer trio Stock, Aitken, Waterman, told us about another flashy combination.
At the height of his pop career with megahits like “Never Gonna Give You Up”, “Whenever You Need Somebody” and “Together Forever”, Ozzy Osbourne, the prince of darkness, came into play with an unusual offer:
He wanted to put together the backing band for Astley, who had previously worked primarily in the studio.
According to Astley, the offer came during his first flying visit to the USA; in the wake of the mega success of his 1987 debut album “Whenever You Need Somebody”. During this trip, Astley actually crossed the Osbournes’ path.
He remembers Osbourne inquiring at the time: “Are you playing over here?”; to which he replied: “No, we’re just doing promo,” then Osbourne again: “If you need an official band, let me know. I’ve worked with all the greats.’
Astley came more from a pumped-up Northern Soul sound. But it was clear to him that the Black Sabbath colleague had worked with some of the best guitarists on the planet. Osbourn’s wife Sharon, who was there at the time, had a much more sober assessment of the situation, according to Astley.
“Sharon just leaned over and said to her husband, ‘Shut up, he doesn’t want to play with your long-haired, tattooed fucking monsters,'” Astley said.
“I was really amazed. Partly because he recognized me, and partly because he thought he could put together the right band for me to play “Never Gonna Give You Up” with. But what a nice man who did all that.”
Over the course of his first four albums between 1987 and 1993, Astley was also the superstar of the British tabloid, with a rather clean-cut son-in-law image, and label partner of starlet Pepsi & Shirley. The now 57-year-old disappeared from the public eye for a long time and has apparently survived the “RickRolling” madness of that time well with his current album “Are We There Yet?”
Astley is also no stranger to the rock cosmos; He became friends with his colleagues from the Foo Fighters after the cover of “Everlong”, which he played in a mash-up version with the band on the live stage. He also covered the wildly booming Slipknot on TikTok; and a drum and percussion cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” at one show.