Rick Astley brands Glastonbury crowd the ‘loveliest' ever.

Editor Stephen Hill  25th  June 2023.

80's pop global icon and true gentleman, Rick Astley has called Glastonbury revellers the “loveliest crowd” he has ever played in front of, but joked even his debut performance at the festival could not make him “cool”.  

The pop legend opened Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on Saturday, proving to be one of the highlights, as belted out his own classic hits,  and performed covers of other artist such as Harry Styles  and took to the drums to play AC/DC’s Highway To Hell.  

The singer also later joined Indie band Blossoms on the newly-named Woodsies stage to play a back catalogue of songs by The Smiths, with fans heralding the set on social media as a “genuinely magic experience”.

The Singer who was originally signed by PWL back in the later 80's  with Hit's as "Never  Gonna Give You Up, Whenever You Need Somebody and was once called boring and talentless by former Bros front man Matt Goss clearly wowed the Glastonbury crowd.

Astley told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that performing at Glastonbury was “absolutely amazing” and he was left moved by the crowd’s response. 

 “That is possibly the loveliest crowd I’ve ever played in front of in my life. It was so generous, so loving,” he said.  “If you go in front of a festival crowd, and they’re up for it in the way that they were, that’s pretty special man.

  “That’s what everybody wants at a festival is a bit of a hug from each other, and that’s what I’ve just got – a massive hug.”

The BBC presenter quizzed Astley, who has gained a legion of new fans in recent years thanks to the Rickrolling phenomenon, on whether he had become cool at last after he previously said the status had always eluded him.  

But the Never Gonna Give You Up hitmaker said: “As big and as amazing as Glastonbury is, it still ain’t gonna make me cool.

“That ain’t happening.  “I don’t mind not being cool. I’m loving every minute right now. I always wanted to be cool.  “Never was, never will be. 

That’s okay. I’ve got a lot of other things in my life other than being cool.” .

The singer who always found fame a struggle, now seems very relaxed and He described playing the festival as a “definite highlight”, adding: “There is the legend that is Glastonbury and I’m living the legend right now so it’s pretty amazing.”.