Rick Astley: Easy like Sunday morning

Rick Astley describes his life these days as easy like Sunday morning (to borrow a song from the Commodores). He is not pressured to make hit after hit. He does not have to prove himself in show after show.

So when he leaves his beloved hometown in the US to travel halfway across the globe it must be for a very special reason.

And that reason is to explore places, preferably with his loved ones and share his music along the way. The ’80s pop star wants to visit Boracay with his family for instance he has explored Japan. But it’s Astley’s first time in the Philippines and he apologizes to fans for taking so long in coming. And it is precisely because of this that he is excited to perform tonight at 8 at the Araneta Coliseum in Here and Now Rick Astley Live in Manila. Astley will perform his hits Never Gonna Give You Up, Whenever You Need Somebody, Together Forever, It Would Take a Strong Man and others.

No, it’s not all about the screaming fans anymore. All Astley wants is to go up the stage and perform. “I have a little career in my life,” is how he describes himself these days. He has no plans of staging a comeback or making an album.

Weekdays he is a family man who brings out the dogs and fetches his daughter. On weekends, he has gigs. The voice which made hits is still there. So is the love for good old reliable melodies.

For Astley and many other products of the ’80s, the melody is still king, no matter what rap and other new genres have to offer. For Astley, nothing beats the strains of the guitar, the catchy hoods of a song. No wonder, decades after he came up with songs that made the world sing along with him, Rick Astley’s music is still around.

Yes, the guy can take it easy like Sunday morning. He has earned the right and the privilege to do so.

(The show is produced by Mossimo with Lancastes Suites as Astley’s official residence in Manila.)