Rick Astley was stunned when his classic hit Never Gonna Give You Up appeared during a poignant funeral scene in comedy-drama ‘Ted Lasso’.
The track topped the charts on both sides of the pond back in 1987 and, in a video shared on Twitter, Rick admitted he was “blown away” at its use in the recent episode ‘No Weddings and a Funeral’.
In the show, Harriet Walker’s character Deborah refers to the track as one of her favourites, and it’s later played at the funeral of her daughter Rebecca’s father.
/center>#Believe #Biscuits #Grrrr @TedLasso @jasonsudeikis @hanwaddingham @brendanhunting @brettgoldstein @AppleTV #tedlasso pic.twitter.com/MZ9Bm773kP
— Rick Astley (@rickastley) September 25, 2021
It featured as she struggled to find the words she wanted to say, at which point Jason Sudeikis’ Ted led the church in a singalong rendition of the Stock Aitken Waterman classic.
“It’s taken a little while for me to process what I think about the latest episode of Ted Lasso,” Rick said.
“I’m a massive fan of the show, and I was just completely blown away with what they did with that song. I have to say to Hannah Waddingham — Emmy Award-winning Hannah Waddingham — you did an amazing, incredible job.
“It was so emotional, so moving, so incredible. People have said they even cried [during] the church scene, I don’t want to give too much away, but… just amazing.
“Thank you very much for including that song in your beautiful show… I’m blown away. Just fantastic.”
Earlier this year, Rick celebrated his debut single passing one billion views on YouTube.
To mark the milestone, he unveiled a limited edition, signed 7” coloured vinyl single of the track, out later this year.