Singer Rick Astley has announced details of a UK headline tour and long-awaited studio album. The tour, which starts with two dates at London’s Royal Albert Hall this November, will be followed by massive arena dates in 2024 culminating at Manchester’s AO Arena.
On the tour, he'll be joined by special guests Belinda Carlisle and The Feeling. The news comes as Astley prepares to make his Glastonbury debut this Saturday when he opens the Pyramid Stage. Earlier this month, the singer said he was "in shock" ahead of "Bonkers" show at Worthy Farm, and said it was "an amazing honour and privilege" to be asked to play.
Tickets for his headline tour will be available for pre-sale at 9.30am on Wednesday, June 21, and will remain live until remaining tickets go on general sale from 9.30am on Friday, June 23 via Ticketmaster.
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It comes as the 'Never Gonna Give You Up' singer also announces his long awaited ninth studio album ‘Are We There Yet?' which will be released on October 6th. It marks the first release since 2018's 'Beautiful Life', and many of the songs on the album were started in lockdown 2020, but left deliberately unfinished until it was feasible to play them live again.
As with ‘50’ and ‘Beautiful Life’, the album was entirely written, recorded and produced by Rick at his home studio in south-west London. He performed almost everything you hear throughout the record, the only exceptions being brass, keyboards and some backing vocals.
It’s been 36 years since the English singer first shot to fame, and he's still winning over new fans - whether he’s performing with Foo Fighters, Take That or Stockport's very own Blossoms, becoming an unlikely social media sensation, or embracing the fandom around his smash hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. And, since returned to number 1 in 2016 with ‘50’, the singer has enjoyed the strongest run of album chart positions of his entire career.
Fans who pre-order the new album by 7pm on June 20 will receive access to a pre-sale for tour tickets. The pre-sale opens at 9.30am on Wednesday, June 21, while general sale goes live on at 9.30am on Friday, June 23. Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster.
In addition to the new tour dates and Glastonbury, Astley
is also confirmed to play Standon Calling, Kendal Calling, Paloznaki Jazzpiknik in Hungary, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Carfest South, The Big Feastival, and Radio 2 Live in The Park.
Rick Astley UK tour dates in full:
2023:
- Wednesday 1st November - London Royal Albert Hall
- Thursday 2nd November London Royal Albert Hall
2024:
- Thursday 22nd February - Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
- Friday 23rd February - Newcastle Utilita Arena
- Saturday 24th February - Leeds First Direct Arena
- Monday 26th - February Cardiff International Arena
- Tuesday 27th February - Glasgow OVO Hydro
- Thursday 29th February - Bournemouth International Centre
- Friday 1st March- - Birmingham Resorts World Arena
- Saturday 2nd March - Manchester AO Arena
