Rick Astley hits No. 1 on the U.K. charts with new album
For Rick Astley, maybe becoming an internet meme wasn't such a bad thing.
The king of rickrolling -- or the butt of a long-running online joke, depending on how you look at it -- is experiencing some newfound success. Astley's latest album, "50," has hit No. 1 on the U.K. album charts, a feat the singer hasn't reached in more than 29 years.
Though he is best known for the 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" -- which has become an internet mainstay thanks to the practice of rickrolling -- and he officially retired from music between 1993 and 2002, Astley has produced plenty of other music. And his latest album, which was released June 10, is further proof of that.
Astley sold 3,700 more physical copies than his closest rival, Tom Odell, who took the No. 2 spot ahead of Paul McCartney in third, according to Mashable.
"It's amazing, it's incredible. It's been a very, very, very long time," Astley told The Independent of his new success. "I like Tom Odell. I bought his last album and I'm going to buy this one as well -- but I've held off from buying it this week."