By Nigel Powlson

Click on the link below to listen to Lights Out by Rick Astley

AT 44, former chart-topper Rick Astley is launching his first attack on the UK singles chart in 17 years.

The 1980s star from the Stock Aitken and Waterman Hit Factory was one of the biggest pop acts of the era, scoring massive hits with songs such as Never Gonna Give You Up and Together Forever.

But, in 1993, he quit the music industry for more than a decade.

Now he's back and busier than ever, headlining a 1980s Here And Now tour that comes to Alton Towers on Sunday, supporting comedian Peter Kay for 20 nights at the MEN Manchester Arena and releasing self-penned single Lights Out.

He says: "We are trying to tick all the boxes to have a hit record but I'm not fooling myself because I know that may never happen.

"I'm proud of the song and I wrote it with one of my best friends, who just happens to be a very successful writer and producer at the moment (Andrew Frampton, who has worked with The Script, Natasha Bedingfield and Leona Lewis).

"I'm aware of the fact that it's got a bit more of a cutting edge than if I had done it on my own, so we will give it a go. Radio 2 have made it a record of the week, so that's great.

"I'm not going to burst into tears if I don't have a hit record."

Lights Out, however won't feature when Rick joins Kim Wilde, The Christians, Bananarama, Curiosity Killed the Cat and Midge Ure at Alton Towers this weekend.

"People aren't coming to listen to new material," he says. "The theme is the 80s and that's what they have come for, so I'm not going to bore them by playing my new songs.

"For the last couple of summers, I have done these 80s evenings in front of these great country homes and it's pretty cool.

"We did one in Devon with a huge estuary with sail boats as a backdrop and I did a swing night with a 20-piece orchestra and we were on a pontoon in the middle of a river. It just adds to it, makes it far more enjoyable."

He also likes the camaraderie of the 80s tours.

"I never got to know these people back then because we were all too busy but now we have a natter and, if we are staying over, the wine flows and we reminisce a bit. We are all a bit more relaxed and chilled out about it and therefore having more fun. The ego has gone out of it."

It was Peter Kay joining Rick to sing Never Gonna Give You Up on a Here And Now tour at the MEN Arena that prompted the invitation for the singer to open for the comedian on his residency at the venue.

"Nobody knew about me joining him, as he wanted it be a surprise," says Rick. "I didn't even tell my family. I went up on stage thinking '11,000 people are coming to see Peter Kay and now they have to see me first' whereas Peter was saying 'they are going to love it – they have paid £35 for a ticket and now they are getting you as well'."

It's a far cry from all those years away from the music business. So what made Rick come back?

"If I'm flat honest I was offered a trip to Japan," he says. "I had been a few times but my partner and daughter really wanted to go and it's not a place you put on your holiday list. I was offered what I considered to be a lot of money, so I went and really enjoyed the gigs and I came home from that knowing I had broken the ice.

"I was offered various things over the 15 years previously but the money didn't drag me out so it was just timing really and you suddenly think, 'I'd like to do that'."

You sense that Rick's more content with his career this time around and he's now happy to be singing all those old favourites again.

He says: "The penny has dropped with me because if I go to gigs of my favourite bands, I want them to do certain songs. I see myself as being part of that tapestry of people's lives.

"I'm really lucky that I have a couple of songs that people remember. They might love them or loathe them but they know them and certain people want to hear them and it's part of the bargain that I sing them. I see those songs in a different way now. I'm helping people relive a memory and the songs mean even more to me now than when they were big hits."

Lights Out can be downloaded now or bought as a CD single from June 7.

The Here And Now tour arrives at Alton Towers on Sunday (May 23). Tickets are £25 from www.altontowers. com/events.