The original video for Rick Astley’s 1987 pop hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” has been pulled from YouTube. If you’re the kind of person who’s hoping that Rickrolling — the phenomenon of tricking people into watching the video — will make a comeback any day now, you can relax.
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It’s just one copy (the oldest) of the video that’s been taken down. That copy had amassed 70-million views in the seven years it had been uploaded, making the reason for its disappearance that much more mysterious.
While artists and record labels are usually behind requests to have videos taken down, it’s unlikely that Astley was behind this one given that he’s been notoriously self-deprecating about the song in the past.
According to Billboard, YouTube has yet to comment on the takedown.
If you are still desperate for a nostalgia trip to the mid-2000s, you can always use the below version of the video — uploaded by Vevo in 2009 — for your Rickrolling needs.
