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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Courtney Pochin

Rick Astley's life with stunning wife and her amazing act that saved his career

There are few people who won't remember Rick Astley's hit song from the 1980s, Never Gonna Give You Up.

And while many might have assumed he was just another one-hit-wonder, the musician has numerous other successes under his belt and has just achieved his dream of performing at Glastonbury at the age of 57.

For the first time in his almost 40-year-long career, Rick took to the Pyramid Stage at the festival and fans watching live and on TV quickly proclaimed that he "won" the weekend.

As well as his own set, which saw him take on covers of Harry Styles songs and AC/DC, the singer also made a surprise appearance on the Woodsies stage with Blossoms, performing a tribute to The Smiths.

The audience went wild over him, but little did they know his return to music is all down to his stunning wife, Lene Bausager.

He rose to fame in the 80s (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
He met his wife, Lene, when he was just 21 (REX/Shutterstock)

Rick, who grew up in Lancashire, rose to fame in the 80s and became a worldwide sensation with Never Gonna Give You Up in 1987.

Around the same time he met his wife Lene, when he was just 21 years old, while she was working as a promoter with his record label, RCA.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald about their relationship, he said: "I fell in love with her the day I met her. I did get to see her briefly again a few weeks later in London, then a year after that over a cup of tea while on tour in Denmark. We started writing to each other and I'd rack up some big phone bills calling her from all over the world."

The pair didn't officially start dating until 1989 when he returned from a tour in Japan, but then they were together while he was touring, releasing music and when he changed direction with his sound in the early '90s.

In 1992 the pair welcomed a daughter named Emilie, who is now 31 and is thought to live in Denmark where she works as a landscape gardener.

"She's a real go-getter and we're both really proud of what she's achieved," Rick proclaimed in the same interview.

He also told The Times in 2018 that he has a cute ritual with his daughter whenever she is back home and the weather isn't great outside.

"My daughter and I will watch My Fair Lady," he said.

"Any Sunday afternoon, if she's back, we put the kettle on and sing along to My Fair Lady."

Rick and his daughter Emilie (@officialrickastley/Instagram)

Aged 27, Rick retired from music in 1993, and then in 2003 he and Lene tied the knot.

But it hasn't all been plain sailing for them, with Rick admitting they've done a lot of couples therapy to combat his need for a 'mother figure' in his life after being raised by his father when his parents split up.

"I like strong women, and Lene is certainly that. My upbringing was unusual and I probably craved having a mother figure, but I am not saying Lene is that for me. We have done a lot of therapy around all of that," he admitted to the Sydney Morning Herald.

He went on to say that the most important part of a long-term relationship is having a foundation of respect for one another because love can only truly come from that.

The singer credits Lene with getting him to where he is in his career today after his musical hiatus.

He took six years out of music and then started recording again, with Lene "stepping in" as his manager several years ago.

In 2016 he released an album called 50 to celebrate his big birthday and explained that it was because of his wife he had the 'confidence' to make it and the record went straight to number one in the UK.

The pair had a daughter in 1992 and tied the knot in 2003 (REX/Shutterstock)
Rick credits Lene with his success today (WireImage)

Rick told the BBC in 2018: "She probably had more belief in 50 than I did, to be honest.

"I don't mean that I was negative about it. I was just being realistic saying, 'Why is anybody going to let a 50-year-old guy in the building?'

"But she produces movies and she can see a path from a script to actually getting a movie on a screen - and she's done that with the music. The success I'm having is due to her, there's no doubt about that. She's a massive part of the whole thing."

And Rick has written numerous songs about his wife, with lyrics such as "every time you kiss me I feel a fire" on Shivers from his 2018 album Beautiful Life, as well as "she gives me hope, she gives me fight" on She Makes Me.

Meanwhile, the song Every Corner seems to reveal the secret to their successful 34-year relationship, as the singer croons: "I know the way to keep you is in the way I treat you."

He told the BBC that his love for Lene is often what "keeps [him] going".

"You can be successful, you can be a big deal, but at the end of the day it's the ones we love that keep us going," he said.

"I know Lene is not for one second impressed with what I do for a living. It's the respect we show each other and the moments of love that are what we're about."

Rick has had success after returning to music (WireImage)

The husband and wife live together in East Molesey, Surrey, and have lived in the same home for years, which they reportedly call Astley Towers.

The property is thought to have its very own studio.

However, the property isn't very "ostentatious" for a celebrity home, according to Rick.

He previously told The Times: "You wouldn't pull up outside my house and say, 'Oh my God, some 1980s pop star lives there.'

"It's not ostentatious.

"It's a bit of a Tardis, it's bigger than it looks and I've got a studio in the garage."

The star added that the place was very "cosy" and they love to burn candles and relax on their velvet couches together while listening to old-school records like Frank Sinatra.

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