Rick Astley announces headline show Live at Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Arguably Britain’s most beloved pop star, Rick will headline the historic Yorkshire coast venue on Friday July 5.

He will be joined by special guests Lightning Seeds.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday December 8 via scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

It has been 36 years since Rick first shot to fame, yet he is now a more prominent force in popular culture than he ever was.

The endearingly boyish 57-year-old is still winning over new fans, performing with Foo Fighters, Take That, Blossoms, becoming an unlikely social media sensation and simply embracing the unending love that greets his era-defining smash Never Gonna Give You Up.

Indeed, since returning to #1 in 2016 with his album 50, Rick – who this year took his first ever bow on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage and headlined two nights at the Royal Albert Hall – has enjoyed the strongest run of album chart success of his career to date.

His long-awaited ninth studio album Are We There Yet? was released to much acclaim in October, debuting at #2 on the UK Album charts. The chart topper has now sold 40 million records worldwide.

Are We There Yet? is the sound of Rick reflecting and building upon the experiences he’s gone through since the release of 2018’s Beautiful Life.

Some of the new songs were started during lockdown in 2020, but he decided to leave them deliberately unfinished until it was feasible to play them live again.

As well as the sound of his unmistakable voice, Rick performed almost all instruments on the record. As a result, Are We There Yet? shows that Rick is still pushing to reach even greater musical heights.

Rick’s live shows are incredibly joyous affairs as he beautifully mixes songs old and new, such as Together Forever, Keep Singing to Angels On My Side as well as incredible covers including the likes of Harry Styles’ As It Was and AC/DC's barnstorming Highway To Hell.

It is 35 years since special guests Lightning Seeds first hit the charts. The 6,000-strong audience can expect to singalong to a string of hits including Life of Riley, Lucky You and football anthem Three Lions.

Rick Astley joins Tom Jones, Becky Hill, Madness, Anne-Marie, Paul Weller, Fatboy Slim, Deacon Blue, JLS, Jess Glynne, Status Quo and Busted among the headliners announced for Scarborough OAT’s 2024 summer season of shows, presented by Cuffe and Taylor.

Julian Murray, Cuffe and Taylor’s Scarborough OAT programmer, said: “For almost 40 years Rick Astley has been part of the nation’s soundtrack.

“Rick is an incredible vocalist and songwriter and a born performer. Anyone who saw his incredible set at Glastonbury will know we are in for a brilliant night at this wonderful venue.”

For tickets and more information about all shows at Scarborough OAT please visit scarboroughopenairtheatre.com