Foo Fighters ‘Rickroll’ Tokyo Audience With Live Rick Astley Performance

The Foo Fighters played a trick on their audience in Tokyo by bringing out Rick Astley to “Rickroll” in real life.

FOO FIGHTERS RICKROLL AUDIENCE WITH RICK ASTLEY

Rickrolling is when somebody sends around an unidentifiable link that turns out to lead to the YouTube video of Astley’s classic hit “Never Gonna Give You Up.” While Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters were on stage in Tokyo at the Summer Sonic Festival, they introduced Astley on stage, who performed the song in the style of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Astley had already performed earlier in the day when the Foos approached him about the prank, and he was game. A video of the performance shows a very enthusiastic Astley stroll on stage as Grohl says, “I just met him two minutes ago.” Grohl then dives into “Never Gonna Give You Up” in a Nirvana-esque strum, and drummer Taylor Hawkins brings in the drum line of the grunge rock anthem. “F–king nuts, you’re nuts,” Astley says as he leaves the stage.

While this was the first Astley had performed with the Foo Fighters, this was not the firs time the Foo Fighters have played Astley’s song. The band once lip synched the tune as they drove past the Westboro Baptist Church, as they were protesting the band’s concert that night in Aug. 2015.

Astley recorded “Never Gonna Give You Up” in 1987 for his album Whenevr You Need Somebody, and it became an instant classic. By 2008, Rickrolling was a popular internet prank, with about 18 million people claiming they’ve fallen for it.

Article by Hillary Luehring-Jones