Rickrolling enabled Rick Astley to rise like a Phoenix from the flames of 1980s one hit wonders. But when the prank first began and his friend in California sent him a link to his own video, Astley didn't find it particularly funny. He wasn't offended either. It just didn't make any sense to him. (It still doesn't make any sense, but that's the point, I suppose.) From the New York Post:
"I'm just like, 'Why is he sending me this?' And my video just suddenly shows up. So I kept asking myself, 'What is he doing?' I remember I was on holiday [with my family] in Italy at the time. I was totally chilled out and I just kept saying to myself, 'I don't need this in my life right now,'" he recalled.
"[My friend] works in music as well. And he works with a lot of guys who are younger than him. So obviously, they're right on the tip of everything all the time," the British musician continued.
He continued, "I just thought it was really weird. You know, here's a friend of mine who lives on a different continent and is sending me a video that then clicks into my song. It was just really weird and it was something difficult for me to get my head around at first. Let's face it, that video is from a long time ago. I look like I'm 11 years old and wearing my dad's overcoat. I just didn't get it at first."
He then joked that he has "professionally 'Rickrolled' people many times."
