INTERVIEW: What Rick Astley Misses About The '80s & New Album '50'

Rick Astley easily had one of the most popular songs of the '80s with his 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up," which became a No. 1 hit single in 25 countries. And aside from being a chart-topping smash, the song (and its music video) is the sole reason we have one of the most popular internet memes of our time: "Rickrolling." So, there was obviously no way we could have the iHeart80s Party this year without the icon from Newton-le-Willows, England. Astley is set to take the stage on January 28th, 2017 in San Jose, CA at the SAP Center, along with New Kids on the Block, UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey, Colin Hay of  Men At Work, Starship, Eddie Money, and Night Ranger.

Since the '80s were a totally awesome decade, we asked Rick what he misses the most from 30 years ago during an exclusive interview when he stopped by iHeartRadio HQ in New York City.

Three Things Rick Astley Misses about the '80s:

1. Actually going out to buy a physical copy of an album

"I think the, the one thing about what we had in the eighties, was the physicality of the ownership of music. So, if you had a car, you'd have CDs in that car. There's a physical thing about putting a CD into a machine and playing it. Or even going back to vinyl, which is even better, where you were proud to own that vinyl. And you would show it, to lend it to friends and warn them that if they scratched it, that would be [bad]. And now sharing music and that whole thing. The love of music is never going to go, like I say, that's always going to be there. People are always going to want to make music, but the actual ownership of it is different. It's a bit like owning a favorite jacket. You own those records. You're proud of them. You showed them to people. That was who you were. And I think we've lost a little bit of that."

2. Embracing the term "Pop Star"

"We do have great pop stars right now, obviously we do. But there's not many that are willing to go 'I'm a pop star.' I wasn't very willing to do that, to be honest. It's just not in my nature. But we had some bands and some artists around who were just definitely that. They were iconic in their pop star-ness. If you think back to certain ... I mean, Duran Duran. Come on, they were pop stars."

3. Quality, life-changing music videos

"I also think that's another thing that I miss from the '80s [is] when someone's made a video that was almost life changing. It was like, if you haven't seen that video, you lost. It was a big deal when Michael Jackson made a video. It was like a world wide big deal. And we don't really have that anymore. And, that happening of it's going to be shown for the first time, [at] this time and the rest of it. That doesn't really exist any more. Nobody watches things at the same time anymore. You just catch it later when you're in the mood on the Internet. I think certain TV shows, like we used to have a TV show called 'Top of the Pops' in the UK, and the whole country tuned in to watch it at seven o'clock on a Thursday. That was kind of nice, because you went to school the next day, or work, and you talked about the tunes that were on the show. And that's gone. It was just a different time and you absorbed things in a different way. And obviously, it's what I grew up with, so I miss it a little bit."

Let's fast forward things to present day - 2016. Earlier this year, Rick Astley turned 50 years old, and to celebrate his milestone birthday, he released a new album called 50 (a title he jokingly tells us he stole idea for from Adele). The record is his first full-length album, via BMG, in over 10 years, since 2005's Portrait. It has been an international hit so far, reaching No. 1 in the UK. He tells us, as much as fans love hearing his older material, on social media, they had been requesting new music, which is what helped to inspire him to create a new album.

On putting together his new album 50

"I kinda did it to mark the fact that my 50th birthday was coming, which is why the album is called 50. I've been doing gigs again for the last ten years or so playing my old songs, and a lot of fans on social media will tell you what they think of the gig, what they think of you, all the rest of it. But one of the things that they kept saying was, 'When are you going to make a new record? We'd like to hear some new songs.' And, if I'm honest, that's been one of the reasons I've had the confidence to make the record. Because, I think you get to a certain part of your life and you think, 'I'm done.' I think everyone thinks I'm done as well. They kind of don't mind the old ones, but they don't want any new ones. I made the record myself, I wrote it all, I played all the instruments, I produced it, and I kinda did that for a number of reasons. One, because I really wanted it to be my record, and also, I'm hoping that if I reached an age where I'm old and gray, I'll look back and think, 'That's what I did at 50.' Not what somebody else did for me. That's what I did. So it's the most personal record I've ever made, and probably the most proud I've ever been of a record."

Rick's new album 50 features twelve new songs (14 on the US deluxe version), including his singles "Keep Singing," "Angels On My Side," and "Dance." As Rick says, this is the most personal record he's ever written, many of the songs having been inspired by his life. For example, he tells us "Keep Singing" is about how singing has been an escape for many of life's obstacles he's experienced along the way, including dealing with his parents' divorce as a kid, and more. "Singing, whether it was in church or whether it was at school, and then getting into bands later, it just seemed to be something to escape into. So, lyrics in that song are literally very personal things that happened to me as a kid."

"Angels on My Side" is another very personal song, and is about all of the good people he's had supporting him throughout his life, including his older brothers and sister, as well as the people he has had surrounding him throughout his professional career as a musician. "My older brothers and my sister looked after me, and got me through a lot of things. Then, moving on to adult life, and having a career in music, I've had some really good people around me, who actually cared about me rather than making money."