LISTEN: Rick Astley vows he's never gonna give up the hits as tour heads this way

placeholder image — Rick Astley reflecting on decades of hits for his 2026 Reflection Tour | SJM Concerts

Pop superstar and national treasure Rick Astley is never gonna give you up ,let you down or desert you!

In an exclusive chat - listen here - the music icon promised he’s never gonna stop giving fans what they want as he revealed details of his 2026 Reflection Tour, which is heading this way.

And that means he's never gonna stop performing THAT song live, writes Graham Walker.

Never Gonna Give You Up, Whenever You Need Somebody, Together Forever and new music, including tunes from latest chart hit Are We There Yet?, will fill the set list on his 12 date April 2026 UK and Ireland arena run, with special guest, Dreams chart-topper Gabrielle.

He plays Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Nottingham, Birmingham and London - full details below.

BUY TICKETS: Now on sale and selling fast at www.gigsandtours.com, www.ticketmaster.co.uk, www.axs.com, www.rickastley.co.uk and via venues.

From storming the charts in the 80s, to his triumphant 2023 Glastonbury sets, Rick has proved time and again that he’s here to stay.

He's also telling his story in his bestselling book The Autobiogaphy, published by Macmillan, out in paperback on October 9, 2025. The hard back is available now - CLICK HERE.

Signature hit Never Gonna Give You Up, with its bright synths, punchy beats and catchy melodies, made Rick a global star.

It topped the UK singles chart for five weeks in 1987, was the nation's best-selling single of the year and reached number one in over 20 countries, with more than 1m record sales.

With over a billion Spotify streams, 1.6 billion YouTube views, and still topping playlists today, his Stock, Aitken and Waterman song is as timeless as Rick’s energy performing it.

And he sees it as a blessing, not a curse.

He said: "I think some artists get a bit bored when they've got this one big song, and it's almost like a millstone around their neck because they want to play the other stuff.

"I sort of view it the other way. I only get to do the other stuff because of that song.

"When a radio DJ might say to me, 'Oh, I'm gonna have to play. Never Gonna Give You Up', I scream, 'get it on'. It's the only way that someone's gonna go, 'oh, that guy. I remember him'.

"So I'm super, happy and super grateful for that song. It's just as simple as that."

He admitted looking at fans' song requests on Facebook to help shape up the set-list for the 2026 tour.

He says; "It's not always what you think. People want me to play the old songs, obviously, the hits. I have to play Never Gonna Give You up. And I'm very happy to do that. But I think we will throw in a few songs that we've never played before, for certain.”

Rick also hinted at recording new music to debut live on the tour.

"I think I'm probably going to commit to recording a couple of songs. I don't think I want to do a whole new album right now, but I think we'll have at least one or two new songs to play," he added.

When I caught up with him, Rick was buzzing about what lies ahead.

He turns 60 next year so has taken time off in 2025 but reveals he came up with the 2026 tour poster image literally while in a reflective mood - making a spectacle of himself in oversized sunglasses.

“I’ve taken some time out this year, hence the name Reflection. The tour poster is a photograph of me on holiday wearing a friend's sunglasses. It's really weird. I look a bit daft, but also very thoughtful in that photo, looking out to see we were in Italy, and literally reflecting on everything that's gone on in the past. So on the right lens, we stuck a picture from the I'm Never Gonna Give You Up video. And on the left lens, there's a bit of me on the Glastonbury stage," he explained.

Rick’s hugely acclaimed Glastonbury sets in 2023 are still fresh in fans’ memories – including his joyous Smiths tribute with Blossoms. But there are no plans to record with them, or even repeat the fan pleasing one-off performance.

"I think if we ever do that, we might do it in a pub in Stockport. Who knows if that will ever happen again? It was such an amazing thing and an amazing time. And I'm still in touch with Blossoms who nailed the sound. If we'd never left their rehearsal room and just done it for us, I could have been quite happy with that," he said.

Rick said of his memoir Never, already a best-selling hardback, that he waited until after his parents had passed before sharing his story publicly – saying only then it felt the right time to write about how his childhood shaped both his drive and his music career growing up in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside.

It gave him the hunger to escape and perform.

He said: "It wasn't the worst childhood ever, but it definitely pushed me to wanting to be a performer, and I wanted to write about that and explain that.

"If you look at Never Gonna Give You Up and Together Forever videos, probably the most poppy things I've ever sung, you wouldn't think that guy would end up singing those songs. That's not really where they came from."

Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up Quiz

To finish, I threw Rick a quickfire round of fun questions - things he’d “never give up.” Here’s what he said.

Food: “Pasta. Actually, all Italian food!”

Drink: “Beer… but also a glass of wine.”

Song: “Has to be Never Gonna Give You Up.”

Album: “Sgt. Pepper’s – genius from start to finish.”

Band: “Blossoms.”

Movie: “Lawrence of Arabia.”

Fashion: It's beyond me. Darling.

Gadget: “I love my telly.”

Sport: “Football.”

Hobby: “DIY. You should see my shed.”