History of rickroll meme.

Hi i post a rickroll info/history i found in internet.

 

About

Rickrolling is a bait-and-switch practice that  involves providing a web link supposedly relevant to the topic at hand,  but actually re-directs the viewer to Rick Astley’s 1987 hit single  “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The URL is often  masked or obfuscated as a randomly-generated shortlink to conceal its  true source from the experienced users. Whenever someone clicks the link  and unintentionally summons Rick Astley’s song, he or she is said to  have been rickrolled. 

Origin

Rick Astley’s solo debut single “Never Gonna Give You Up” was originally released as part of his 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody.  Upon its initial release, the single became a number one hit on several  international charts including the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles  Chart[1].  One of the earliest known “Never Gonna Give You Up” videos was uploaded  to YouTube on May 15th, 2007. Since its debut, the video has gained  over 48 million views (as of May 15th, 2011). 

 

On 4chan

The bait-and-switch phenomenon had its beginning on imageboard site 4chan as a spin-off of an earlier practical joke known as duckrolling,  in which an external link with a sensational title (i.e., a specific  picture or news item) would be redirected to an edited image of a duck  with wooden wheels. 

 According to 4chan founder m00t, the “Rickroll” phenomenon began on /v/ (videogame board) circa May 2007[2], when someone posted a link to Rick Astley’s music video disguised as a sneak preview for the then newly released videogame Grand Theft Auto IV. Due to the the trailer’s high demand at that time, GTA  fans on /v/ fell victim to the bait-and-switch prank and the joke  became quite popular on 4chan. This account has been further  corroborated by Wikipedia as well as Google Insights, which shows that  search interest in “rickrolling” apparently began in April / May 2007. 

 

Spread

Many people have expressed the opinion that the most  attention-getting aspect of the video is Rick Astley’s unexpectedly deep  voice in contrast to his youthful looks. According to VH1’s PopUp  Video, record executives who heard his recordings didn’t believe it was  his voice either at first[3]. 

Project Chanology

In February 2008, during the Anonymous’ Project Chanology  protests against the Church of Scientology, “Never Gonna Give You Up”  was played from boomboxes, performed, and shouted. The UK daily The  Guardian[4] called it “a live rick-rolling of the Church of Scientology.” 

 

YouTube’s April Fools Prank

On April 1st, 2008, every featured video on YouTube’s front page redirected to the Rickroll music video [5].
 

 

New York Mets

In April of 2008, the New York Mets posted an online poll[6] to select the song for the 8th inning sing-along. On April 4th, 2008, FARK  users bombarded the poll with upvotes for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” On  April 7th, the Mets announced that the song had won with over five  million votes. Rather than using the song for the 8th inning, it was  apparently used during the home opener, much to the displeasure of Mets  fans. 

 

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

In November 2008, the Rickroll meme came to a full circle when Rick  Astley himself appeared on a float during the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving  Day Parade[7], lip synching to his classic hit from 14 years ago.
 

 

MTV Music Awards: Best Act Ever

Rick Astley was nominated for the Best Act Ever award for the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2008, when the voting forum was flooded by fans of the Rickrolling phenomenon[8]. Astley has voiced his approval of the off-beat joke, stating “MTV was thoroughly Rickrolled.” 

 

Oregon House of Representatives

In February 2010, a bipartisan group of Oregon Representatives  planned to pull off the “Rickroll” during House sessions. Each of the  participants was given a portion of the lyrics of “Never Gonna Give You  Up” to subtly plug into their statements during legislative discussion.  This scheme was finally revealed on April 1st, 2011, when Representative  Jefferson Smith and his co-conspirators edited and uploaded a video of  various representatives making their statements, put in proper lyrical  order of the song. 

 

Textual Derivative: WikiLeaks Rickroll

Just as the world was fully grasping Wikileaks for the first time,  amid dense publications of top secret cables, the arrest of Julian  Assange in the UK, and Operation Payback  which included serious attacks on Visa, MasterCard, Amazon and Paypal,  one purported Wikileak document titled “England: Reliability and  Longevity of UK-US Relationship Confirmed” was probably more read than  any other:

Originally posted on the eve of December 9th, 2010, readers who clicked through the hidden link were led to a document[9] that includes the lyrics to the Rick Astley’s song: 

SUBJECT: ENGLAND: RELIABILITY AND LONGEVITY OF UK-US RELATIONSHIP CONFIRMED
REF: A. LONDON 365 B. LONDON 366
Classified By: Consul General Robbie Honerkamp for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D )

1. (S/NF) Summary: We’re no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of. You wouldn’t get this from any other guy.
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling. Gotta make you understand.

2. (C/NF) Chorus: Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you.r
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

3. (S/NF) We’ve known each other for so long Your heart’s been aching but You’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know what’s been going on We know the game and we’re gonna play it
And if you ask me how I’m feeling Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

4. (C/NF) Chorus: Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down,  never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never  gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

White House Tweet

On July 27th, 2011, Twitter user @wiggsd tweeted “This WH  correspondence briefing isn’t nearly as entertaining as yesterday’s.”  The official White House Twitter account, @whitehouse, replied to the  tweet with a link to the Rick Astley video on YouTube. 

 @wiggsd Sorry to hear that. Fiscal policy is important, but can be dry sometimes. Here’s something more fun: http://t.co/ca31My7 #WHChat 

You can find more info in source page of memes and know history of more memes http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rickroll