Obituary

The Rickroll is the only resident of this cemetery whose grave is empty. It was born in 2007 when an internet user posted a link promising a Grand Theft Auto IV trailer and delivered Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' instead. Two decades later it still works. It has been deployed in livestreams, in Super Bowl halftime shows, in the middle of actual wars, and in a 2021 livestream by the Brazilian government. You cannot kill a meme whose entire mechanism is that you thought you were getting something else. We buried the casket. It walked home.

Born

2007

Died

Never

Cause of death

Refuses to die. It is undead.

Last sighting

Somewhere on your timeline, right now

Resting place

Nowhere. It will not stay buried.

Category

audio