Rick Astley reflects unexpected viral fame of 'Never Gonna Give You Up'

Rick Astley recently reflected on the second life his famous track Never Gonna Give You Up found.

The track, released in 1987, found an unexpected second life through the viral Rickrolling meme.

In his memoir, Never: The Autobiography, Rick discussed how the internet revived his career and brought his music to a new generation.

Rickrolling started in 2007 when a YouTube user tricked viewers by linking Astley’s music video in place of a game trailer. This prank spreat and earned the video over 1 billion views, bringing Rick back to the spotlight after decades.

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, the singer said, "I’ve never really appreciated what it is, I think, because I’ve just had to sort of shut down that part of my brain. I was lucky enough that it happened when I was a lot older, and I was like, ‘The guy in the video, yes, I know it’s my physicality, but it’s not me.’ I’ve got enough distance."

Additionally, Rick credited his daughter for helping him navigate early days of the meme, saying that "She was saying, ‘Don’t sweat it. It has nothing to do with you.' And I’m like, ‘How can it have nothing to do with me?’ And she said, ‘Just leave it where it is. Don’t try to embrace it and try funny things with it.’"

Appreciating "the life it gave me" Rick went on to add about the song that "It introduced that song to a lot of people and a generation that would have no clue, and that’s kind of gold dust really. I’ve learned to appreciate that it’s part of my DNA."

"There’s people who probably have more talent than me who didn’t get their goal for whatever reason. I can get quite emotional about that at times, because the luck involved in having a hit record that’s a lifechanger is so narrow a bandwidth, it’s unbelievable," Rick Astley added.