New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Released in 1988, Rick Astley's second album 'Hold Me In Your Arms' proved that his breakthrough success was no fluke. The album achieved numerous international Top 10 chart positions, including #8 in the UK plus Top 20 in the States.
Within a month, it had been certified Platinum in the UK in recognition of more than 300,000 sales and then Gold in the US, following 500,000+ sales. It expanded upon his star status, which he first established when the global cultural phenomenon 'Never Gonna Give You Up' fired to #1 in 25 different territories, while his debut album 'Whenever You Need Somebody' sold millions of copies.
Now
Rick Astley celebrates the 35th anniversary of 'Hold Me In Your Arms' by releasing a remastered
Deluxe Edition of the album on May 12th. Now available to pre-order HERE, the album will be reissued as an extended and remastered 2CD
Deluxe Edition, a remastered blue vinyl, as well as digital and streaming formats.
The album's three singles - 'She Wants To Dance With Me' (#6), 'Take Me To Your Heart' (#8) and 'Hold Me In Your Arms' (#10) - continued Rick's phenomenal chart success, which saw his first eight singles all race into the UK Top 10. 'She Wants To Dance With Me' and 'Hold Me In Your Arms' were both written solely by Rick and have remained as firm fan favourites and staples of his live set ever since.
Rick wrote six of the album's ten tracks, while three were penned by Stock Aitken Waterman. The album was completed by Rick's soulful take on The Temptations' classic 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', which landed him another chart hit in the States.
The original 'Hold Me In Your Arms' album has been freshly remastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road. The 2CD
Deluxe Edition adds a wealth of bonus material, highlights of which include the b-side 'I'll Be Fine'; Rick's reimagined solo takes on 'She Wants To Dance With Me' and 'Hold Me In Your Arms' plus a vast array of remixes, extended mixes and instrumentals.
Rick says, "So many good memories of making this album, great way for me to finish the '80s!"
Rick Astley has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in recent years, which started when he returned to #1 for the first time in 29 years with the release of his '50' album - a record that he wrote, recorded and performed entirely independently. That momentum continued unabated with two consecutive Silver-certified Top 10 albums in the shape of 'Beautiful Life' (#6) and the career retrospective 'The Best of Me' (#4).
His live shows have also been in constant demand, notably a 2021 UK arena tour which included two huge free shows in both London and Manchester for NHS staff and key workers.
The enduring popularity of 'Never Gonna Give You Up' has remained as strong as ever, reaching 5 x Platinum status in the States and 1.3 billion views at YouTube. But just as importantly, a younger audience has discovered Rick's talents for the first time - as evidenced by over 3 million followers at TikTok alone, headline-grabbing live moments with
Foo Fighters and Blossoms (performing the songs of The Smiths), and memorably inspiring a famous 'Ted Lasso' scene'.
This summer will see
Rick Astley play select UK festival dates at Kendal
Calling (July 27th-30th) and the Big Feastival at Alex James' Farm (August 27th). He is also confirmed to headline the Paloznaki Jazzpiknik in Hungary on August 3rd.
