The audience for the Foo Fighters’ set at Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival this weekend was treated to a surprise appearance from a musical icon who is even bigger than the Foo Fighters—at least if legendary internet memes are anything to go by. As reported by Consequence Of Sound, none other than Rick Astley joined the Foo Fighters on stage and assisted in an appropriately Foo Fighter-y rendition of “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Introduced as the band’s “new best friend,” Astley came out to a surprisingly subdued round of applause, and after a little chat with Dave Grohl and the reveal that he just met the band a few minutes before the show, Astley amped up the crowd by screaming “come on you motherfuckers.”
After a slow start where Astley seems to take a moment to get situated in this weird version of his song, things take off surprisingly well. Maybe he can join the band on a more permanent basis?