By Gemma Peplow

Boy George was originally at the top of the bill for the unashamed orgy of nostalgia that is the 1980s Here and Now tour.

However, when he got sent to jail after the whole male escort scenario, organisers were left in a bit of a predicament.

Luckily, reluctant popstar Rick Astley was there to step into his shoes, although he won’t be drawn into a gossip about the fallen Culture Club star.

“The circumstances are a bit weird,” says Rick, who is giving a rare interview to promote Here and Now.

“Obviously, I feel bad for George. I used to go to clubs and dance to his records, so the whole thing’s a bit sad.”

Despite being thrust back into the limelight with the recent “Rick Rolling” internet campaign that resulted in him beating the likes of Elvis and the Beatles for MTV’s Best Act Ever Award, Rick is loath to describe it as a comeback.

He was pop gold at the height of his career, much to the delight of his hit machine producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman, with his first eight singles all top 10 hits and 19 million worldwide record sales.

In fact, for the first six months of his career, he was never out of the top 40. However, the Never Gonna Give You Up singer famously took an early retirement from the music industry because he wasn’t keen on the whole celebrity thing, and now when he does decide to perform, it’s more of a hobby.

And it pays the bills.

“There’s been so much water under the bridge now that I enjoy it again,” he says.

“I’ve done little bits before but I’ve never really wanted to go out and keep singing my hits. But I get paid really well, and I don’t care what anyone says, that’s definitely an incentive in life.

“Here and Now also brings back a lot of memories for me.

“I know some people think this kind of thing is naff, but when you’ve been to one of these, you really get swept away. But I never go on what I’d actually call a tour. It’s a few gigs strung together.”

So the Rick Rolling phenomenon hasn’t given him the tiniest urge to take a crack at a Take That-style return to the top of the charts?

“MTV put me in that category because they thought it would be funny, but I think it bit them on the bum because they weren’t expecting people to vote for me,” says Rick.

“Whether they voted for me because they liked me or because it was ironic… I suspect it was the latter.

“There were 980 million votes, so someone was voting more than once.

“I take my hat off to people like Madonna, managing to keep going all this time. It’s obviously talent but they’ve got the drive as well. I don’t know where they find it. I like being anonymous, doing what I do, being free to go to Sainsbury’s.”

Info

The Here And Now Tour is on at Nottingham Arena on Saturday, May 16. Tickets cost £36.50. Call 08444 124 624.

We've got two pairs of tickets to the Nottingham show to give away. To enter simply tell us who Rick replaced as the headline act. Send your answer to blags@leicestermercury.co.uk by 9am on Monday, May 11, 2009.