Rick Astley hints at X Factor guest judge spot ahead of new album release

Rick Astley

by Owen Tonks |
Published on

Don't even try and deny you've had a bit of a dance around the kitchen/shower/CHAIR to Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.

The '80s pop legend, 50, released the smash hit from his first album Whenever You Need Somebody in 1987 and it topped the charts in 25 countries.

And now, for the first time in a decade, he's back with a brand new album called 50.

While Rick may be preparing for fans to hear his new tunes this Friday, he'd also be happy to make a musical comeback in another way – The X Factor.

The new judging line-up for the upcoming series was recently announced and the singer would like to join Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh or Nicole Scherzinger as a guest judge.

Rick Astley

He told heatworld: "Yeah, I wouldn't mind doing something like that.

"It's one of those things, The X Factor, on the one end we all like to think, 'Oh God, not again, when is this show going to end?' but it's still compulsive watching sometimes.

"All I need to do is just hear somebody sing well and then I'll instantly go, 'Oh, hang on a minute.' You want them to do well and you think it would be great if this person could actually win it this time.

"I think that would be me getting something that I would have some knowledge about."

Rick originally retired from pop at the age of 27 but was signed with Stock Aitken Waterman beforehand.

And the singer remembers a fresh-faced Mr Cowell dropping by former Popstars: The Rivals judge Pete Waterman's offices.

"I remember Simon Cowell going to Peter Waterman's studios a lot in the early days," Rick told us.

"This is when Simon was trying to get his thing together, he was managing people.

Rick Astley

"There's a part of me that really admires Simon, believe it or not, because I think he's had conviction about things.

"There's a part of me that likes that and if he was more from an indie background he'd be more like a hero in the music industry.

"But because he's always been at the forefront of absolute pop, he's kind of not taken seriously and almost hated to some degree.

"Simon Cowell is not killing music, he just isn't, that's just a myth. He has some TV shows that a lot of people like watching and have a bit of fun with," he added.

Rick may have retired in his 20s but he hasn't totally been out of the spotlight – he was the subject of a Rickrolling internet meme in 2007.

People were tricked into watching his Never Gonna Give You Up video after clicking a link they believed would lead to something else.

What was it like to be a meme? Pretty good apparently!

"I was asked to go to New York and Rickroll one of the floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," he said.

"I'm going to be blunt here, they offered me a lot of money, and they said, 'We'll put you up in a great hotel for a week with your family.'

"How many times do you get to go on a float when they close down New York? And also, all my friends who live in America, screamed at me down the phone, saying, 'You have to do this! You have to do this!'"

But Rick is now concentrating on his new music and is looking forward to the release of his latest album.

Rick Astley

"It feels like a record that's definitely mine because I wrote it all, played it all, produced it, did it in my studio at home and it's kind of been a bit of a, corny cliché, but a bit of a labour of love, I guess.

"Also, because I didn't start out to make a record with it, really. I was just writing songs, enjoying that for what it is."

He added: "I've just really loved the process. All my life, when I've sung, really good things have happened for me.

"Even to this day, if we've got a gig, I never, ever, ever come off stage feeling negative or bad. I kind of walk off stage and it's kind of like someone's just injected you with some kind of natural drug.

"That's still really precious I think."

Rick's new album, 50, is released on Friday 10 June.

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