Entertainment

Now on sale: Rick Astley at The Waterfront Hall, March 20 2017

Rick Astley is Belfast-bound
Rick Astley is Belfast-bound Rick Astley is Belfast-bound

LIVING proof that even the most unlikely pop stars can enjoy late career-revivals, former Stock, Aitken and Waterman crooner Rick Astley has just added a Belfast gig to his upcoming run of mostly sold-out live dates for next year.

Having spent two decades in the 'whatever happened to Rick Astley?' wilderness, the Lancashire singer's career trajectory skyrocketed thanks to 2008's 'Rickrolling' fad, which generated millions of online hits for the video of his 1987 number one Never Gonna Give You Up.

Events reached a bewildering crescendo last month when Astley's comeback LP, 50, kept Paul 'The Beatles' McCartney and pretty boy piano-wrangler Tom Odell off the top of the UK album chart.

We can only hope that it was Rick Astley himself who perpetrated this viral PR masterstroke, and that he now spends his free time rolling around in an ever-growing pile of money while being consumed by fits of maniacal laughter.

:: Tickets on sale at 9am today via Waterfront.co.uk and Ticketmaster outlets.