[imagesource: NBC / Getty]

We all have to catch up with the ways of the internet if we want to stay relevant, especially old school musicians.

If you clicked on that link above, consider yourself “Rickrolled”.

If you do, in fact, have your finger on the speedy pulse of the internet, you will have heard of the phenomenon dubbed ‘Rickrolling’.

According to Know Your Meme, 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.

Instead, the link redirects the viewer to the music video of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up,’ a 1987 dance-pop single by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley.

The song’s popularity has seen a resurgence since it became a meme, and Astley takes his duty to officially Rickroll quite seriously.

He apparently live-Rickrolled the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York with a surprise performance of the song.

Now, Astley also found an opportunity to unofficially collaborate with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl by slotting himself into something that Jimmy Fallon is calling G’Rolled.

G’Rolled is a nod to the classic Rickroll and came about after Grohl visited The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon to recreate their own classic meme, where someone recut the band’s 2005 hit ‘Best of You’ to repeat the lyrics “the best” over and over.

The particular video from the Jimmy Fallon show is not accessible to us in South Africa, but this link will show you the video if you are watching from an international location that allows it.

This video is something like the original G’Roll:

You get the idea.

As per Mashable, Astley saw Grohl’s G’Roll on The Tonight Show and felt a proper mashup of the two songs would be the best next iteration.

Introducing the Rickroll / G’Roll:

Dave, Jimmy, I saw your clip on YouTube ( https://t.co/S9qIosoPoK )
Amazing !! felt the need to respond –
keep on Rockin and ‘Rollin’
Rick ♥️ @jimmyfallon @foofighters @FallonTonight #DaveGrohl #FooFighters pic.twitter.com/HKV2nugcNb

— Rick Astley (@rickastley) May 26, 2021

The layers of internet meta here are truly fascinating and amusing, but it’s the “the best” that becomes increasingly aggressive and unfamiliar in Astley’s version that gets all the points.

[source:mashable]