Review: Never: The Autobiography by Rick Astley

Never: The Autobiography

by Rick Astley

Release Date: January 13, 2026 (First published October 10, 2024)

2026 Pan

Ebook ARC; 304 Pages

ISBN: 978-1035049417

ASIN: B0FG3K6X7J

Audiobook: B0D5MP3Y78

Genre: Non-Fiction / Autobiography / Music

Source: Review copy from publisher 

 

4 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

'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 '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.'

 

Balancing nostalgia, fresh perspectives and introspection, Never begins with family and unconventional upbringings; journeys through the tumultuous and glamorous world of pop; and takes pause for self-reflection. Rick goes 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.

 

My Thoughts

Never: The Autobiography was heartwarming, and I definitely enjoyed reading about his early childhood and his early years in the business.  I was a huge Astley fan as I really loved his voice, and because he was popular before the days of the Internet, I remember trolling through magazines to get more information about him. It was such a different time period in terms of how music reached the world.  Because of this, I never really gave it a thought when I didn't hear about any more of his songs being released or if he was working on a new album.  Again, so different from today when you could just look up to see if he had a podcast, website, etc... to get information.  

 

The memoir was quite well-written and he was quite candid about the difficulty of growing up with both a father and a mother who both suffered from some type of mental illness and the impact that had on his life and affected his overall relationship with both of them.  He talked about the years of therapy it took to work through the effects it had on his life, his decisions, and how he avoided confrontation or how he avoided standing up for himself, especially in terms of his music career.  At the same time, he developed close relationships with his siblings and with Lene, the woman who would eventually become his partner in life, stable relationships that gave him a support system to grow and develop into a more confident and secure individual.  But in order to grow and develop, he had to give up his music career for a while, and this is the part I found the most fascinating.

 

Rick Astley shared the difficulties he had in the music business, how he doesn't really have any regrets with the decisions he made, but at the same time, there is also this lingering sense about what would have been if he had had more control over his own musical career.  There are so many stories out there about careers being destroyed because record companies wouldn't allow an artist to grow and develop and make the music they really wanted to make, not really understanding the talent they had within their hands, and this is probably the case with Rick Astley as well.  He was able to understand that he needed to break free before he lost himself completely, and took a fifteen year break from music, but how many musicians burn out and get lost in that web of exhaustion that Astley explained in this book? How many of these musicians succumbed to alcohol and drugs because of the pressure to go, go, go, all the time? Reading about how he came back was a treat and definitely sent me down a few rabbit holes, listening to music I haven't listened to in quite a while.  The book did drop quite a few names, but it was not pretentious and I loved his reaction when he met Paul McCartney the first time. 

 

Verdict

Never: The Autobiography was fun to read and I definitely added some new Rick Astley songs to my playlist as I was not aware he had put out three new albums the past few years, and they are albums I really, really like. The book was a personal journey through his life and accepting the things you can change, but also the things you can't. It was also about taking hold of what's important in your life and realizing there are times you have to put yourself first, and that's not necessarily a selfish thing to do. It did enable him to return to something he loves and to something he continues to pursue passionately.  Honestly, if you are a fan of 80s music, I would definitely recommend this book.