สาระหน้ารู้

 Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire, the fourth child of his family. His parents divorced when he was five and Astley was brought up by his father.^[9] Astley remained in very close contact with his mother, who lived a few streets away from his father. After finding out that his father was the one who kicked his mother out of the house, Astley distanced himself from his father.^[10] His musical career started when he was 10, singing in the local church choir.^[11]

During his schooldays, Astley formed and played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris.^[2][12] After leaving school at sixteen, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as Give Way – specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs – and FBI, which won several local talent competitions.^[11