Music fans were pleased on Sunday evening when Shakira and Jennifer Lopez took to the stage for the Super Bowl LIV halftime show. The two popular singers drew praise for several reasons, including their singing, but there were fans left wanting. As it turns out, roughly 75,000 people were hoping for a cameo appearance by singer Rick Astley that did not take place.
A petition was created on Change.org by a user named NightmareNate, Epic Memer. His goal wasn’t necessarily to get Astley involved in the halftime show due to liking the song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The petition’s creator just wanted to see an epic prank take place on the biggest stage possible. He wanted to “Rickroll” NFL fans.
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The petition was created with the goal of reaching at least 100,000 signatures. The ultimate goal was 150,000, but the campaign fell short. As of Tuesday morning, the petition only has 75,870 signatures.
Rickrolling, alternatively rick-rolling, is a prank and an Internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The meme is a type of bait and switch using a disguised hyperlink that leads to the music video. The victims, believing that they are accessing some unrelated material, are said to have been rickrolled.
Rickrolling has long been a tradition at sporting events. One example took place in August 2019 when the Boston Red Sox were visiting the San Diego Padres. Midway through the game, the home scoreboard began playing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” which has become a theme song of the Red Sox. As the visiting fans began to sing, however, the scoreboard switched to Astley’s song.
The Los Angeles Chargers attempted a similar prank in Oct. 2019 during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The staff at Dignity Health Sports Park began playing “Renegade” by Styx, which is associated with the Steelers. This angered the Chargers’ players and made the visiting fans happy.
The song did eventually switch to “Never Gonna Give You Up” in an attempt to Rickroll the crowd, but it was too late. The players didn’t enjoy the attempt at the prank and instead called for some staff changes to be made.
“We’re used to not having any fans here,” offensive lineman Forrest Lamp said. “It does suck, though, when they’re playing their music in the fourth quarter. We’re the ones at home. I don’t know who’s in charge of that but they probably should be fired.”
It’s unclear if the Rickroll would have found more success during the Super Bowl LIV halftime show, but the answer will never be provided. The petition did not lead to a surprise cameo.
(Photo Credit: C Brandon/Redferns/Getty)
