The track was production trio
Stock Aitken Waterman's biggest and most enduring hit. Composer Mike Stock confessed he struggled to completely understand why the song had struck such a chord, but suggested its massive success was down to a combination of the song, the singer, and the international clout of record label
RCA. along with other songs such as
the Clash's cover of "
I Fought the Law" and "
Panama" by
Van Halen. The
Emmy Award-winning sitcom
Ted Lasso featured the song prominently in the season two episode "
No Weddings and a Funeral", including a scene where Rebecca Welton (played by
Hannah Waddingham) begins to sing it in the middle of her father's funeral. Astley himself commented of the episode, "Waddingham...did an amazing, incredible job. It was so emotional, so moving, so incredible. People have said they even cried (during) the church scene." Sometime after he resumed his career in 2016, Astley and the
Foo Fighters both performed at the
Summer Sonic Festival in Japan. The band invited Astley to join them as they performed the song in the style of "
Smells Like Teen Spirit". In August 2022, the CSAA Insurance Group, an insurer for the
American Automobile Association, released a
commercial featuring Rick Astley, with scenes recreated from the original "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video.
Yung Gravy's 2022 song "
Betty (Get Money)" prominently
interpolates "Never Gonna Give You Ups synthesiser riff and chorus, with Stock Aitken Waterman credited as songwriters. Although Astley agreed to license the music and lyrics, he never authorised Gravy to directly copy his voice. On 26 January 2023, Astley filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court, objecting to Gravy's use of an impersonator to mimic Astley's voice. The case was settled in September 2023. In 2014, Matt Dunn of
WhatCulture ranked the song at number one in his "15 unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman singles" list.
Time Out listed "Never Gonna Give You Up" at number 33 in their "The 50 Best '80s Songs" list in 2018, adding, "Those synthesized strings, that thumping boots-and-pants beat, Astley's weirdly robust croon and his romantic-wooing-as-used-car-salesman pitch ('You wouldn't get this from any other guy')… It all adds up to three-and-a-half of the most effervescent minutes in the '80s canon." In April 2020,
The Guardian ranked it at number 44 in their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1s".
Classic Pop ranked the song number four in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman Songs" in 2021. In October 2023,
Billboard magazine ranked "Never Gonna Give You Up" number 244 in their list of "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". In 2025, Thomas Edward of
Smooth Radio ranked the song number two in his list of "Stock Aitken Waterman's 15 greatest songs, ranked", and number one in his list of "Rick Astley's 10 greatest songs, ever".
Rickrolling "Never Gonna Give You Up" is the subject of an
Internet meme known as "
rickrolling" involving misleading links (commonly shortened URLs) redirecting to the song's music video. Started by users on
4chan, the practice had by May 2007 achieved notoriety on the Internet. It increased in popularity after its use as a 2008
April Fools' Day joke by various media companies and websites—including YouTube, which rickrolled all of its featured videos on that day—allowing people to easily rickroll their friends' devices. "I think it's just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it", Astley told the
Los Angeles Times in late March 2008. "That's what's brilliant about the Internet." Astley appeared in the 2008
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, interrupting a song performed by those on a float promoting the
Cartoon Network programme ''
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' with a
lipsynched performance of "Never Gonna Give You Up". There were reports that despite the video garnering millions of hits on YouTube, Astley earned almost no money from the online phenomenon, receiving only $12 in royalties from YouTube for his performance share as of August 2010. In 2016, Astley said he never bothered to figure out how much money he earned from YouTube and said that he had also been paid "a chunk of money" by
Virgin to appear in a commercial and for his appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. ==Track listings==