About

Rickrolling is a bait-and-switch prank that involves posting a hyperlink that is supposedly relevant to the topic at hand in an online discussion, but re-directs the viewer to the music video of “Never Gonna Give You Up,” a 1987 dance pop single by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley. Since May 2007, numerous versions of the music video on YouTube have garnered hundreds of millions, largely driven by the widespread practice of “rickrolling” and subsequent resurgence in popularity of the song over the following decade.

Origin

Rick Astley’s dance pop single “Never Gonna Give You Up” was originally released as part of his 1987 solo debut album Whenever You Need Somebody. Upon its initial release, the single became a number one hit on several international charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart^[1]. On August 31st, 2006, YouTuber Erik Helwig prank called a radio station in Michigan after a sports game and played “Never Gonna Give You Up” over the phone (shown below).

Usage on 4chan

The bait-and-switch phenomenon had its beginning on the imageboard community 4chan as a spin-off of an earlier practical joke known as duckrolling, in which an external link with a sensational title (i.e., a specific picture or news item) would be redirected to an edited image of a duck with wooden wheels.

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According to 4chan founder m00t, the “rickroll” phenomenon began on /v/ (video games) circa May 2007^[2], when someone posted a link to Rick Astley’s music video disguised as a sneak preview for the then newly released video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Due to the high buildup of anticipation for the game at that time, many GTA fans on the /v/ board fell victim to the bait-and-switch prank and the joke became quite popular on 4chan. The timeline the account has been further corroborated by Wikipedia and Google Trends, which shows that search interest in “rickrolling” began to rise between April and May 2007.

Spread

On May 15th, 2007, one of the earliest known instances of the music video was uploaded under the title “Rickroll’D” by YouTuber Cotter548.

Many people have expressed the opinion that the most attention-getting aspect of the video is Rick Astley’s unexpectedly deep voice in contrast to his youthful looks. According to VH1’s PopUp Video, record executives who heard his recordings didn’t believe it was his voice either at first^[3].

Project Chanology

In February 2008, during the Anonymous’ Project Chanology protests against the Church of Scientology, “Never Gonna Give You Up” was played from boomboxes, performed, and shouted. The UK daily The Guardian^[4] called it “a live rick-rolling of the Church of Scientology.”

YouTube’s April Fools Prank

On April 1st, 2008, every featured video on YouTube’s front page redirected to the Rickroll music video ^[5].

New York Mets

In April 2008, the New York Mets posted an online poll^[6] to select the song for the 8th inning sing-along. On April 4th, 2008, FARK users bombarded the poll with upvotes for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” On April 7th, the Mets announced that the song had won with over five million votes. Rather than using the song for the 8th inning, it was apparently used during the home opener, much to the displeasure of Mets fans.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

In November 2008, the Rickroll meme came to a full circle when Rick Astley himself appeared on a float during the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade^[7], lip synching to his classic hit from 14 years ago.

MTV Music Awards: Best Act Ever

Rick Astley was nominated for the Best Act Ever award for the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2008, when the voting forum was flooded by fans of the Rickrolling phenomenon^[8]. Astley has voiced his approval of the off-beat joke, stating “MTV was thoroughly Rickrolled.”

Oregon House of Representatives

In February 2010, a bipartisan group of Oregon Representatives planned to pull off the “Rickroll” during House sessions. Each of the participants was given a portion of the lyrics of “Never Gonna Give You Up” to subtly plug into their statements during legislative discussion. This scheme was finally revealed on April 1st, 2011, when Representative Jefferson Smith and his co-conspirators edited and uploaded a video of various representatives making their statements, put in proper lyrical order of the song.

Textual Derivative: WikiLeaks Rickroll

Just as the world was fully grasping Wikileaks for the first time, amid dense publications of top secret cables, the arrest of Julian Assange in the UK, and Operation Payback which included serious attacks on Visa, MasterCard, Amazon and Paypal, one purported Wikileak document titled “England: Reliability and Longevity of UK-US Relationship Confirmed” was probably more read than any other:

Originally posted on the eve of December 9th, 2010, readers who clicked through the hidden link were led to a document^[9] that includes the lyrics to the Rick Astley’s song:

SUBJECT: ENGLAND: RELIABILITY AND LONGEVITY OF UK-US RELATIONSHIP CONFIRMED
REF: A. LONDON 365 B. LONDON 366
Classified By: Consul General Robbie Honerkamp for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D )

1. (S/NF) Summary: We’re no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of. You wouldn’t get this from any other guy.
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling. Gotta make you understand.

2. (C/NF) Chorus: Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you.r
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

3. (S/NF) We’ve known each other for so long Your heart’s been aching but You’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know what’s been going on We know the game and we’re gonna play it
And if you ask me how I’m feeling Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

4. (C/NF) Chorus: Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

White House Tweet

On July 27th, 2011, Twitter user @wiggsd tweeted “This WH correspondence briefing isn’t nearly as entertaining as yesterday’s.” The official White House Twitter account, @whitehouse, replied to the tweet with a link to the Rick Astley video on YouTube.

@wiggsd Sorry to hear that. Fiscal policy is important, but can be dry sometimes. Here's something more fun: http://t.co/ca31My7 #WHChat

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) July 27, 2011

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References