Rick Astley will release his first-ever memoir, ‘Never’, this October. 

The Never Gonna Give You Up hitmaker’s tome will revisit his life and career, from his early years in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, to finding global success as part of Stock Aitken Waterman’s Hit Factory and his more recent renaissance, including the new album ‘Are We There Yet?‘. 

Astley says in a synopsis: “Fame didn’t actually make me happy. I was an insecure twenty-year-old and being famous made things worse. It was an era all about the way you looked and I still don’t know how I squeezed through. I did enjoy myself for a lot of it, but, at some point, you’re looking in the mirror and going: ‘Is this it, then?’ 

“Clichéd as this sounds, success is never going to mend something that is broken. You just have to work that out for yourself. And something was a bit broken in me – I think it is with almost everybody who gets on the stage.”

According to a bio, the book “beyond the blinding lights of the stage – giving an intimate look at the man behind the hits – and is a portrait of truth, artistic evolution and the astounding power of contentment”.

‘Never’ is published on October 10 on Pan Macmillan and available to pre-order here.