Fame is not just about being able to get out of a limo in Leicester Square, it's about trying to get into your house when there are eight photographers outside. When you think about being famous, you don't think about all that stuff. You think about the glamour.

Rick Astley

Categorized in : Thinking Squares Eight

I'm a person who tries not to have regrets.

Rick Astley

regret persons trying

I'd had my time in the charts and made loads of money. I was no longer hungry for success.

Rick Astley

hungry-for-success my-time made

I don't trust politicians. I think that by the time they've made it, with the concessions they've had to make in that position, I don't believe they still have the beliefs they had at the root.

Rick Astley

roots believe thinking

Id been bumming around in bands since my school days.

Rick Astley

school-days band school

I must admit, the constant invasion of privacy was becoming a real concern. Ive been asked for autographs while Ive been doing laps in the pool and even in the toilet!

Rick Astley

lap toilets real

I had my 15 minutes of being the new boy of pop, like lots of people before and after me. Overnight, everyone starts treating you differently, and perceives you differently.

Rick Astley

before-and-after boys people

I think Phil Collins is one of the most underrated musicians, singers, performers - he is absolutely amazing, I think, and I think he's probably got a bit of a rough ride occasionally because he became so mainstream and so popular.

Rick Astley

singers musician thinking

I was just burnt out. I didn't like the music business and I didn't like me. There's an element of falseness about the whole thing. Even things like doing an interview. It's not as though we just met in the pub and are having a chat - it's part of a process. If you do it all day, every day for years, you end up thinking: 'Who the hell am I?' I was lucky enough to make some money, enough to let me kick back. It was a great experience and it was nice to have a couple of No.1s but the best thing about it was that the money I made allowed me to have freedom and choice in my life.

Rick Astley

nice couple thinking

Working as a teaboy may have helped my confidence, but not everyone else was so pleased. I could never remember who had milk or how many sugars, and I had an unusual talent for spilling tea on the recording console.

Rick Astley

sugar may tea

'Never Gonna Give You Up' in 1987 was a huge international hit followed by several more, and while I appreciated how lucky I was, it catapulted me into a completely new world and simply took over my life.

Rick Astley

lucky giving world

I do have a thing for eating out; that's one of life's great middle-age pleasures.

Rick Astley

pleasure eating age

You can't explain the feeling of singing hit songs to an audience - it's like being a genuine sports star at the peak of their powers.

Rick Astley

stars song sports

I started out as a drummer, and now play with a back-to-basics rock band called the 'Luddites.' I'm happiest when I'm behind the kit.

Rick Astley

rocks band play

Dont expect fame to come overnight. That filtered through to me in my own career. Look at Madonna: shes not the best singer in the world, but shes got where she has through hard work.

Rick Astley

hard-work careers looks

Scientology always makes me think of that movie 'V' where that woman takes off her mask of human flesh to reveal her true, alien self.

Rick Astley

flesh self thinking

When I was still at school, I'd help Dad at the concrete yard he had prior to the garden centre. I was doing things there, like driving the tractors and forklifts, that most kids my age couldn't.

Rick Astley

dad kids school

I like everything in this iPhone, iPod world where you can do everything all the time. Back in my time, you bought a vinyl record when you were a kid and took it home, and it took a bit of effort to actually get it out of the thing and not scratch it.

Rick Astley

iphone home kids

My dad loved Scotland, so we would pile into his caravan and head for the Highlands, to Fort William and Loch Ness. It was such an adventure - my siblings and I were allowed to roam and explore the local beaches. We loved the freedom of those trips.

Rick Astley

sibling dad beach

I used to go to soul nights because I loved dancing, and so did my friends, and we loved the music. We used to go listen to black American soul.

Rick Astley

dancing soul night

I was the youngest of four kids, and Dad, who had a garden centre before he retired, came from a large Lancashire family. Every one of my uncles had their own business, including a post office, two fish and chip shops and a painting and decorating business.

Rick Astley

uncles dad kids