Astley will be interviewd by Dermot O’Leary for the show, which will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in February 2026 and will also feature his Glastonbury 2023 set on the Pyramid Stage.

Rick Astley said, “I loved doing Reel Stories with Dermot O’Leary, what a treat to be taken back to the start and come right through to today. Dermot is the perfect companion to go on that rollercoaster of emotion, love and thanks, Rick x.”

O’Leary said, “What a pleasure to spend time with Rick and hear him talk so openly about his memories from over the decades. I’ve long been a fan of his, and after recording this Reel Stories episode, have even more admiration for him as a performer and a person.”

“There’s so much more to his story than we know, a really interesting and interested person. A true gent, wise soul and real talent. I hope that viewers enjoy this extended interview as much as I did.”

Previous interviewws on the show have included Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Dave Grohl, and Noel Gallagher.

Rick Astley launched his career in 1987 with his debut single ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, which spent five weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The song led him to perform tours in the late-1980s around the UK, where he became a regular arena headliner. He followed this decades later with albums such as ‘50‘ in 2016 and ‘Are We There Yet?’ in 2023. He has also made headlines for collaborations with Foo Fighters and Blossoms.

After a long break, Astley returned to touring in the mid-2000s, including sold out UK theatre and arena tours, and later headlined major festivals such as Glastonbury. He has also won Best Act Ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards as well as received BRIT Award recognition for his influence and commercial success in his career.

Astley has recently announced plans for a UK tour in 2026, with Gabrielle joining him as a special guest. Remaining tickets are available here.

He is also set to perform the the Isle Of Wight Festival next year alongside the likes of headliners such as The Cure, Lewis Capaldi, and Calvin Harris. Remaining tickets for the festival are available here.

He will tour around major cities in the UK as part of his ‘Reflection’ tour next year which consists of 12 shows.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rick Astley (@officialrickastley)

Back in 1987, Rick Astley became a global phenomenon with his hit song ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, which established him as an international chart-topping and BRIT Award winning artist.

His debut album ‘Whenever You Need Somebody‘ sold 15.2 million copies worldwide.

After his fourth album was released in 1993, he stepped back from being in the spotlight to focus on his family life.

He also opened a pub with his friend called Mikkeller.

In 2016, he made a comeback and released his album ‘50′, which ended up being his first number 1 album in 29 years.

He has collaborated with artists such as Foo Fighters and Blossoms, performed festival sets at Glastonbury, and even reached number 2 on the charts for his album ‘Are We There Yet?‘.

After taking a small break in 2025, Rick is heading back out on tour next year around the UK and Ireland.

Fans can expect to hear songs including ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, ‘Together Forever’ and ‘Keep Singing’.

The tour follows from Rick Astley taking off in recent years, with him even posting a cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club.’

The tour will start next year April 10 at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, and will happen in major cities around the UK and Ireland before finishing April 25 at London’s O2 Arena.

Fans can register for pre-sale here by September 2 6pm, with pre-sale starting September 3 9:30am.

General sale starts September 5 9:30am, and fans can purchase those tickets here.

2026 UK/Ireland dates:

April 10 – Glasgow – OVO Hydro

April 11 – Newcastle – Utilita Arena

April 13 – Belfast – SSE

April 14 – Dublin – 3Arena

April 16 – Liverpool – M&S Bank Arena

April 17 – Manchester – Co-op Live

April 18 – Leeds – First Direct Bank Arena

April 20 – Bournemouth – International Centre

April 21 – Cardiff – Utilita Arena

April 22 – Nottingham – Motorpoint Arena

April 24 – Birmingham – BP Pulse LIVE

April 25 – London – The O2

On the opening night, Friday 12, Liam Gallagher will grace the main stage. Whilst speaking about his return to the festival he said “Can’t wait to return to Glasgow Green next Summer to headline TRNSMT.” He continued by teasing about what he’ll play, hinting at some solo material “I’ll be playing songs from Definitely Maybe as well as some solo stuff. See you there.”

Bringing the pop vibes, noughties group The Sugababes have been announced for the Friday Line-up. Known for their iconic hits  ‘Push The Button’ and ‘About You Now’, the band are rumoured to have new releases in 2024. The English pop vocal trio of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy has changed musical line-ups three times before returning to the original members in 2012. The group released their first single in a decade in September 2023, the soulful song ‘When The Rain Comes’. 

Example has been announced as the headline act for the King Tuts Stage. The rapper and singer rose to fame in the 2010s with his catchy songs such as ‘Changed The Way That You Kiss Me’ and ‘Kickstarts’ and his funny personality, with dry humour, which fans adore. His personality has been shown in videos with his celebrity friends such as Ed Sheeran. Lastly, To complete the Friday line-up, fans will be rocking out to Pop Rock band Picture This and indie group The Last Dinner Party.

Saturday sees Gerard Crosbie, professionally known as Gerry Cinnamon headlining after a four-year break from playing the festival. The Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist is back, after saying “Get hounded on the daily to do TRNSMT again, well hound no more.”

Pop star, Rick Astley, who is known for his legendary debut track ‘Never ‘Gonna Give You Up’ will be joining the party on Saturday. The 80s singer has made a big comeback over the past few years, with Gen Z audiences ‘Rick Rolling’ each other. The new ‘internet meme’ has become a trend, with people seemingly clicking on a video, and instead being presented with Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give you Up’. Even supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is ‘Rick Rolling’ the nation in their 2023 Christmas ad.

Sunday is the day for all the ravers, with DJ Calvin Harris taking over the main stage. The popular DJ and producers, who have hits such as ‘How Deep is Your Love’ and ‘Feels So Close’ will arrive at TRNSMT for his first gig following his sell-out Ibiza residency. Dance duo, Chase & Status will also be bringing the energy on the final festival day. To see all these iconic artists and more, get tickets online here

The tour promoting The Very Best Of 1989-2023 will be a six-date UK arena tour in September 2024. The band will begin the tour in Leeds at First Direct Arena, and end with a show in Texas‘ hometown of Glasgow, at the OVO Hydro.

The rock band fronted by Sharleen Spiteri gave an electric performance at this year’s Glastonbury festival, where they performed classic hits from their discography, as well as newer songs from their latest studio album, 2021’s Hi. You can watch the full video of their performance on the iconic Pyramid Stage below.

Since forming in 1986, Texas have gone on to produce 10 studio albums, including White On Blonde, their first UK number 1 album. Over the span of their career, the band have sold over 40 million records worldwide, and secured their legacy in Scotland, being one of the most successful bands Glasgow has ever produced.

Before Texas head out on their UK arena tour, the Glaswegians will perform at BBC Radio 2 In The Park this weekend in Leicester. The band will also feature on Magic Radio’s Magic Of Christmas, ready to get you into the Christmas spirit, alongside Emeli Sande, Rick Astley, Simply Red and more.

Tickets for the upcoming Texas “The Very Best Of” tour will go on general sale on Friday 22nd September. Tickets in the artist pre-sale will be available from Wednesday 20th September for those who are eligible. To gain access to the pre-sale, you must sign up for it by 5pm on Tuesday 19th September. To sign up for pre-sale, click here.

Texas The Very Best Of UK Arena Tour dates and locations announced Sign up for pre-sale before 5pm on Tuesday 19th at the link below. General tickets go on sale on Friday 22nd September at 10am. https://t.co/derxxfgFad pic.twitter.com/KhH5QxIlwC

— Texas (@texastheband) September 15, 2023

Tour dates:

16/09/2023 – BBC Radio 2 In The Park – Leicester, UK

25/11 – The London Palladium – London, UK

06/09/2024 – First Direct Arena – Leeds, UK

07/09 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool, UK

10/09 – Bournemouth International Centre – Bournemouth, UK

11/09 – Utilita Arena Cardiff – Cardiff, UK

13/09 – Utilita Arena Birmingham – Birmingham, UK

14/09 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow, UK

pic.twitter.com/c7hWHdORSy

— B L O S S O M S (@BlossomsBand) January 12, 2022

The original plan was for a European tour, with six dates taking the group around places such as Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands towards the end of January and the beginning of next month. However, if you had plans to see them in the UK then don’t despair just yet. The group are still due for dates in places such as Doncaster, Warrington and Southampton next May to July, COVID-permitting.

It’s disappointing news for fans of the five-piece from Greater Manchester, especially as Blossoms were arguably at the forefront of the UK’s return to live music-making, headlining at last May’s trial one-day festival at Sefton Park. However, it seems the spread of the Omicron variant has them extra cautious as of now.

Of course, they’ve been involved in other forms of live performance over the past few months, teaming up with “Never Gonna Give You Up”-star Rick Astley last September/October for a round of covers from The Smiths’ back catalogue, covering such classics as “Panic“ and “This Charming Man“.

The event got a mixed reception from The Smiths’ co-founders Morrissey and Johnny Marr, with Morrissey thanking them, saying “anything that generates interest in the tired old Smiths warhorse is testimony to the wallop it pack“. Marr on the other hand seemed a bit upset about not having been told beforehand, tweeting that “ I met The Blossoms a few weeks ago and they elected to not mention it. Nice.“

Then again, it sounds like things have been smoothed over between the group and the veteran rock-star, with Marr later mentioning that “There was an M.O. there that just wasn’t very cool – but I’ve dealt with it. I think I’m a pretty reasonable person, and I’ve dealt with it.“

Either way, if you don’t feel like waiting for the European gigs to be re-arranged, or just fancy a nice UK concert to get yourself to next May-July time, tickets for Blossoms’ UK tour can be found here. Let’s hope nothing gets in the way of this one however.

SPLENDOUR LINE UP ANNOUNCED

We’re thrilled to announce @richardashcroft & @SupergrassHQ as our headliners, joining a bill full of incredible artists & much more yet to be announced!

Nottingham’s biggest summer party is back, get your tickets now: https://t.co/c4JAvwqwNk pic.twitter.com/mWiC8ju2US

— Splendour Festival (@splendourfest) March 5, 2021

The Splendour Festival dates back to 2008 when it kicked off as a two-day event with performances from the likes of Ocean Colour Scene, Kate Nash, Rufus Wainwright and Paolo Nutini. The festival has grown exponentially since then, and the last Splendour in 2019 was the biggest to date, with 25,000 in attendance to see headliners Manic Street Preachers, The Specials, Rag’n’Bone Man and All Saints.

In an interview with the Nottingham Post, Splendour organiser Anton Lockwood explained that the festival would comply with the most up-to-date public health guidance. He said “We are working on the best information we have. Obviously there will be more detailed work on guidelines and protocol for events like Splendour. We are monitoring that and contributing to that and as those guidelines come out we’ll obviously follow those and abide by the legislation and all the guidelines. We are able to go ahead thanks to the amazing work of everyone getting the vaccine out there and a shout out to Nottingham Professor Jonathan Van-Tam (Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England) – I think he is brilliant – we will listen to his advice but we want to have a big party.”

Lockwood added “We want people to come out and see some great live music – that is what we are trying to achieve. I am really excited to be going to a gig to be honest and go and see some live music. We obviously want it to be safe, obviously we are going to follow the legislation and the guidelines that are in place that people far more expert than us are developing.”

Richard Ashcroft‘s headline set at Splendour was set to follow two sold-out comeback gigs at the London Palladium in May. The Wigan vocalist – who is currently working on an acoustic greatest hits album – returned to action last month with a cover of John Lennon’s 1973 track Bring On The Lucie (Freda Peeple).

Fellow Splendour headliners Supergrass, who reformed in 2019 after a nine-year hiatus, will eagerly await a return to the stage this year. The indie veterans had been due to tour the United States, Australia and Europe last year – topped off by a fifth scheduled appearance at Glastonbury – before all their live commitments were scuppered by the pandemic. The Oxford rockers, who produced one of the defining singles of the 1990s in Alright, last released an album in 2008 (Diamond Hoo Ha).

1980s pop icon Rick Astley continues to defy expectations (most recently by covering Slipknot and The Strokes on his TikTok account) and has enjoyed a steady period of critical success ever since his well-received 2016 comeback LP 50. The Lancastrian singer’s appearance at Splendour will compliment seventeen separate UK tour dates scheduled for this year, culminating in a gig at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on November 12th.

Becky Hill‘s performance at Splendour should coincide with the release of her as-yet-untitled debut studio album this summer. The former The Voice UK contestant, who scored a 2014 number #1 single with Gecko (Overdrive), most recently provided vocals for Bruno Martini and Magnificence’s January release Wake Up With You.

Other acts confirmed for Splendour 2021 include British pop-rockers The Vamps, Heaven Is A Place on Earth singer Belinda Carlisle, London indie outfit Sleeper and up-and-coming Nottinghamshire artist Tori Sheard. Tickets for Splendour are available through the festival website.

“It’s free to you guys because I just wanna say a massive thank you, and I don’t know how else to do it.” The 54-year-old singer took to his social media, announcing the upcoming gig. “You do an amazing job. The whole country thanks you, so hopefully will see you there. We’ll have a fantastic night, and I’m gonna work my butt off to give you a great night and so will my band.” See the full video from the post below.

ดูโพสต์นี้บน Instagram

On October 28th at @ManchesterArena I’m putting on a free concert for all NHS Frontline, Primary Care Workers & All Blue Light Staff. Tickets available from Thursday 2nd of April at 7pm @nhswebsite #NHSheroes #NHS #NHSstaff #thankyouNHS Link in bio.

โพสต์ที่แชร์โดย Rick Astley (@officialrickastley) เมื่อ มี.ค. 31, 2020 เวลา 11:19am PDT

This upcoming gig is held especially for the specified healthcare and emergency service professionals in the UK, which means only those who work in the field can apply for the ticket. And those who can secure the ticket must present the original copy of their staff ID at the show, while the name on their ID has to match the name of the person who secures the booking. In addition, the tickets will be available to apply only two per person.

Rick Astley is one legendary English singer/songwriter who is renowned from his 1987’s single “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The track became a number 1 single in 25 countries and won the Best British Single in 1988 from the BRIT Awards.

After releasing his fourth album ‘Body & Soul‘ in 1993, he announced his retirement from music to focus on his family. Until 2001, the “Together Forever” hitmaker made a return to his singing career. He was signed with Polydor and released ‘Keep It Turned On‘, the fifth studio album, but the album was not released in the UK.

Astley became the talk of the town once again in 2007. In that year, his most iconic single “Never Gonna Give You Up” was circulated around the Internet as the meme known as “rickrolling“. The hype for his meme-worthy track earned him the accolade as the Best Act Ever from the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.

‘Beautiful Life‘ is Astley’s latest LP released back in 2018. It was a follow-up to a number one record ‘50‘ (2016) that became his very first album to hit the summit of the UK Albums Chart, with “Keep Singing“, “Angel on My Side“, and “Dance” as the singles.

And now – nearly thirty years later – Rick Astley beats fellow legend Sir Paul McCartney to the album Number One spot.

Rick Astley certainly enjoyed some fellow 80s praise:

“Elton John’s sent a few texts over the last couple of days and just called me now to celebrate and said ‘just make sure you enjoy it.’

“He’s one of those people I’ve always respected… so it was a nice moment to get that congratulations.”

The music of the 80s has never stopped being so popular. Bars and nightclubs around Europe maintain this popularity of a genre of music often described as ‘cheese’. And, of course, any resurgence some decades later will appreciate further music as Rick Astley, himself, emphasises and celebrates:

“It’s amazing, it’s incredible, it’s been a very very VERY long time since this happened before! I’m ecstatic, I couldn’t be happier”.

Astley continued with modern-day ambition from potential earnings of his new album:

“I’d like to be the owner of a nice little beach restaurant that has a jazz trio every night. As the owner, I could get up and sing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I’d wear a velvet jacket, with a different colour for every night of the week and always have a nice cocktail in my hand. That’s where I’d want to be in 25 years’ time.”

How very 80s of him! Music, indeed, does travel in circles, and, as Rick Astley returns to a generation of music fans whom has never forgotten him, younger music fans will be able to link this modern resurgence back to the music they hear every day from the 80s.

Let’s look back at ‘Never Gonna Give You Up':