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Rick Astley's Hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up' Passes 1 Billion Views On YouTube

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep with congratulations to Rick Astley. His '80s hit, "Never Going To Give You Up," has passed 1 billion views on YouTube, many of them involuntary. Rick-rolling, for those who don't yet know, is when you prank people by sending them a link to that song, disguised as something else. Now, you may think this is an old, old joke, but we're never going to give it up.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEVER GOING TO GIVE YOU UP")

RICK ASTLEY: (Singing) Never going to give you up, never going to let you down.

INSKEEP: It's never going to say goodbye.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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