Foo Fighters Team Up with Rick Astley for Surprise Live Rendition of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up,’ Delight Fans

Foo Fighters have always embraced fun, and their London O2 concert was no different. The band delighted fans by Rickrolling them with an unexpected appearance by Rick Astley, who performed his iconic track “Never Gonna Give You Up”. They blended Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with the chords of Astley’s hit, while the ’80s artist infused a touch of rock ‘n’ roll into his typically smooth vocals.

The collaboration was surprisingly successful, with stadium attendees going wild as the band clearly enjoyed themselves. As anticipated for the original meme-famous song, online fans also loved it, with the video garnering 9.1 million views, as shown below.

At the time of the performance, Astley was 52 and had previously retired from music, yet his vocals remained impeccable. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl wore a big smile throughout the performance, evidently enjoying the surprise rock and pop fusion for his fans.

Interestingly, Foo Fighters and Rick Astley share a notable history. Grohl has performed alongside Astley multiple times, notably when the Foo Fighters and Astley spontaneously played “Never Gonna Give You Up” live in Tokyo. Astley has reciprocated by covering a Foo Fighters song in the studio. You can watch Astley’s rendition of the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” in the video below, which also became popular online, amassing 5.3 million views.

Astley played acoustic guitar while performing “Everlong”, delivering a rendition faithful to the original track. However, he added more vocal intensity and dynamics, resulting in a truly beautiful cover.

During an interview with Virgin Radio UK, Astley shared that his initial performance with the band in Japan was entirely spontaneous and unplanned. He explained that he was part of the same lineup as the Foo Fighters at a festival in Japan and stood close to the stage during their set. He mentioned that Foo Fighters members Grohl and Taylor Hawkins are among his favorite musicians because “somewhere in my DNA I’m a drummer”, alluding to his beginnings as a percussionist.

Astley recounted that a Foo Fighters roadie approached him, handed him a mic, and said “Dave wants you onstage.” The pop star added that he was jet-lagged and had a couple of beers by then, but he couldn’t refuse the chance. Astley also shared another intriguing detail, stating “somehow they’d learned “Never Gonna Give You Up” and they’d jammed it”, with the aim of possibly having Astley perform it at the festival.

Astley wrapped up the story by saying “so I ended up singing to 50,000 people with the Foo Fighters on a weird and wonderful version of “Never Gonna Give You Up”. It was proper nuts.” He then issued a language warning for those planning to watch it on YouTube, noting “there’s quite a bit of swearing at the beginning of it, because I just lost myself in that moment.”