Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Rick Astley responds to Greta Thunberg’s ‘rickrolling’ at a Stockholm climate concert: ‘Fantastic’

Teenage climate activist sang ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ to an ecstatic crowd at a Climate Live gig

Louis Chilton
Monday 18 October 2021 05:52 EDT
Comments
Greta Thunberg Rickrolls crowd at Climate Live concert

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Rick Astley has responded to climate activist Greta Thunberg’s recent “rickrolling” at a Stockholm climate concert.

“Rickrolling” is an internet meme that centres around unexpected out-of-context appearances of Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

Thunberg was filmed addressing a crowd at a Climate Live concert in Stockholm, one of a series of activist events held across the world.

After beginning to speak to the crowd in what seemed like a regular speech, she then read out the lyrics, “We’re no strangers to love”.

At this point, another activist joined Thunberg on stage, and Astley’s hit played over the speaker while Thuberg sang along.

Video footage of the stunt was shared on Twitter by Astley himself, who praised the 18-year-old campaigner.

On his official Twitter account, Astley wrote: “Fantastic and Tack så mycket! Rick x”

In English, the latter phrase translates to: “Thanks so much.”

Fans of the singer, and of Thunberg’s activism, praised the light-hearted moment on social media.

“So important to send good vibes. Not my revolution if we couldn´t dance,” wrote one person.

“Who knew, you were a ROCKSTAR,” wrote someone else.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in