A lot of online memes have come and gone over the years, but there’s one that people are never gonna give up.
Rickrolling is the not-so-subtle art of tricking someone into watching Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up video, which just topped 1 billion views on YouTube.
“That is mind-blowing,” Astley said on Twitter. “The world is a wonderful and beautiful place, and I am very lucky.”
Variety reported that just three other music videos from the 1980s have passed the 1 billion mark: Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses, Take On Me by A-ha and Billie Jean by Michael Jackson.
Know Your Meme traced the rickroll to 2006 – just a year after YouTube’s birth – as explained in this video:
Astley said in 2016 that he learned about rickrolling when he became a victim of the prank himself.
″(He) sent me an email – he rickrolled me. It was a really long time ago. I know this guy really, really well. He’s one of my best friends,” Astley told the “Today” show. “Then he sent me another one. He just kept doing it.”