Rick celebrates his extraordinary story with the release of the new career-spanning compilation ‘The Best of Me’. It charts his initial run of 8 consecutive UK Top 10 hits that started with ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, alongside recent fan favourites such as ‘Keep Singing’, ‘Angels On My Side’ and ‘Try’. It also digs into some deep cuts too, such as ‘Lights Out’ from 2010. The set is bookended with a step into the past and an eye to the future. Again entirely self-written, produced and performed, opening track ‘Every One of Us’ is a brand new song that shows that the power of Rick Astley 2.0 is undiminished. And it closes with a new ‘Pianoforte’ take on ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. Dropping the peppy ‘80s beats for an intimate piano arrangement captures it in a new light, its inner heartbreak becoming all the more apparent. “It’s been an amazing experience to rework ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’,” says Rick. “That song is part of my DNA and it means a lot to me. I hope people like what I’ve done with it as much as I do. And ‘Every One of Us’ is about the fire in all of us. We all have something to give, even if it doesn’t always feel like we do. I’m so lucky to feel that fire every time I’m on stage, and that helps me feel it my everyday life too.” Continuing that spirit of reinvention, Rick independently recorded a set of ‘Reimagined’ interpretations of his songs, old and new, available to download for ‘The Best of Me’. While Rick’s musical style has evolved over the years, the stripped-back ‘Reimagined’ recordings show that quality songwriting has always been an essential hallmark of his work.
