Rickrolling originated on 15 May 2007, when 4chan user Shawn Cotter uploaded the "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video to YouTube and linked to it in place of the trailer for the video game Grand …

To Rickroll (or rickroll) someone is to trick them into hearing the song “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, first released in 1987. Often this involves a sort of bait and switch whereby one …

Mar 1, 2018 · What does rickrolling mean? Rickrolling is when you troll someone on the internet by linking to the music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” It is, by far, …

In this deep dive, we uncover the story behind Rickrolling — from its chaotic 4chan origins to becoming the longest-running meme in internet history.

Rickrolling is a bait-and-switch prank that involves posting a hyperlink that is supposedly relevant to the topic at hand in an online discussion, but re-directs the viewer to the music video of "Never Gonna …

Nov 25, 2025 · If it makes you feel any better, even YouTube has been Rickrolled in the past, a platform where the actual video used for Rickrolling lives. “We want to know: this year, what videos did you …

Nov 20, 2025 · The term “Rickrolling” comes from a combination of Rick Astley’s name and the word “roll,” which is internet slang for a prank. The practice is often referred to as a “bait and switch” …

Mar 4, 2025 · Rickrolling remains one of the internet’s greatest and longest-running jokes. What started as a simple bait-and-switch prank turned into a cultural phenomenon, keeping Rick Astley’s hit song …

Rickrolling is an internet prank where a person is unexpectedly shown a music video of Rick Astley’s 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up after being led to believe they were clicking something …

Jan 9, 2020 · Don Caldwell, internet historian and editor-in chief of Know Your Meme: Rickrolling is a bait-and-switch prank where someone posts a link that seems relevant to whatever discussion …