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Rick Astley joined Manchester rock band Blossoms for a smooth rock version of Charli XCX‘s hit pop song “360.” The musicians recorded the cover in the BBC‘s Radio 1 Live Lounge, which augmented the scene with some lime green video screen in the background.
In the clip, Blossoms singer Tom Ogden carries the majority of the song’s vocals, but later Astley steps in for a verse, giving it a sense of real swagger with an interpolation of Stardust’s 1998 song “Music Sounds Better With You.”
“We’ve been in love with the record,” Ogden explained of the band’s choice of covers for the BBC session. “Obviously, everyone knows that it’s been a Brat summer, hasn’t it? We love it the same way everyone else has and this tune I just think is a great pop record.”
Earlier this year, Astley showed off his penchant for modern-day pop by showcasing a surprisingly poignant cover ofOlivia Rodrigo‘s hit “Drivers License” forBBCRadio 2’s Piano Room. Performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra and a pair of back-up singers,Astley also performed his own 1987 mega-hit “Never Gonna Give You Up,” which he and the orchestra mashed up withEd Sheeran’s “Shape Of You.”
Astley and Blossoms previously joined forces for a pair of concerts where they covered the Smiths, which Johnny Marr famously called “both funny and horrible at the same time.” Astley and the band later performed an array of Smiths covers for a secret set at Glastonbury in 2023.
