"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a song recorded by Japanese singer

Mai Kuraki (born October 28, 1982) is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single " Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single " Love, Day After Tomorro ...

. It was released on June 7, 2000, in Japan as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

and as a

12" vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

Giza Studio is a Japanese record label. The Giza Studio started as an indie label in the late 1990s under the name Garage Indies Zapping Association, but soon Being Inc. bought it as their sister label company. Giza Studio is located in Osaka, Japan and ...

, Giza Inc., and Tent House as the fourth and final single from her debut studio album, ''

Delicious Way ''Delicious Way'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the debut album by Japanese recording artist Mai Kuraki. It was released by Giza Studio and Giza Inc. in Japan on June 28, 2000. The album was entirely co-written by Kuraki herself, with the help of ...

'' (2000). The track features lyrics in

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and

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, written by Kuraki and Michael Africk, respectively. He also served as the single's composer, backing singer and producer, alongside Kanonji, Miguel Sá Pessoa, and Perry Geyer. The CD release of the track included the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

recording "Trying to Find My Way". Musically, "Never Gonna Give You Up" is an R&B and pop song whose lyrics delve on themes of love and relationships, a common trait on its parent album. Upon its release, "Never Gonna Give You Up" received a positive review from Alexey Eremenko, who contributed in writing the biography of Kuraki on American website

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

; he selected the track among Kuraki's best works. Commercially, the single experienced commercial success in Japan, reaching number two on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

and the

Count Down TV (also known as CDTV) is a Japanese late-night music television program, broadcast on TBS since 1993. The program is shown weekly, and features a Japanese music video hit chart countdown, live performances from musicians and music information. ...

chart hosted by

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(TBS). The recording was certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

(RIAJ) for physical shipments of 400,000 units in that region. In order to promote the single, an accompanying music video was released, with it portraying both Kuraki and Africk in a recording studio. The visual was included on some of the singer's Japanese concert tours and greatest hits compilations.

Background and release

The track features lyrics in

and

'' (2000), to have not been entirely written by her, and was one of the first tracks recorded for the album. It was originally intended for the singer's debut in the American music market in 1999, but ended being scrapped; it was subsequently featured on the Kuraki's only English language album, ''Secret of My Heart'' (2002). Musically, "Never Gonna Give You Up" is an R&B and pop song whose lyrics discuss on themes of love and relationships, a common trait on ''Delicious Way''. The recording was made available for consumption as the fourth and final single from the album on June 7, 2000 in Japan as a

through

. The physical release included the original album track, its instrumental and a remix produced by Me-ya under his alias It's Tonight, alongside B-side track "Trying to Find My Way". The instrumental of the remixed version was later featured on a 12" vinyl distributed by Tent House—a subsidiary label owned by Giza Studios—two days later. On November 12, 2014, "Never Gonna Give You Up" was re-released digitally in Japan through

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and

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Reception

"Never Gonna Give You Up" received a positive review from Alexey Eremenko, who contributed in writing the biography of Kuraki on American website

; he selected the track among Kuraki's best works. Commercially, the single experienced commercial success in Japan. It debuted at number two on the

with first-week sales of 284,780 copies, being only stalled from the top position by

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

's "

Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

" (2000). It spent seven weeks within the top 200. Likewise, "Never Gonna Give You Up" made its opening at the sophomore position of the

chart hosted by

(TBS), where it stayed for another consecutive week. The recording was present in the chart for seven weeks. By the end of 2000, "Never Gonna Give You Up" was ranked at number 58 on Oricon's year-end chart, having brought total sales of 434,000 units as her fourth entry there. Similarly, it reached number 59 on TBS's annual ranking chart. The single was certified Platinum by the

(RIAJ) for physical shipments of 400,000 units in that region. As of July 2016, it is Kuraki's seventh best-selling single in Japan based on Oricon's sales data base.

Music video and promotion

In order to promote the single, an accompanying music video was released, with it featuring both Kuraki and Africk in a recording studio. The visual was included on Kuraki's video compilation ''First Cut'' (2002). During 2000 and 2001, the song was used for Japanese television MFTV's music show ''I'm a Music Freak''. "Never Gonna Give You Up" has been performed on various concert tours conducted by Kuraki, including her 2001 Experience tour, her 2001 Loving You tour, her 5th Japan Anniversary tour, her 2007 Brilliant Cut tour, her 10th Anniversary tour, and her 2010 Happy Halloween tour in Japan. The single has also been featured on several

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation albums released by the singer, including ''Wish You the Best'' (2004), ''All My Best'' (2009), and ''Mai Kuraki: Best 151A (Love and Hope)'' (2014).

Track listing

*CD single #"Never Gonna Give You Up" – 4:01 #"Trying to Find My Way" – 3:33 #"Never Gonna Give You Up" (It's Tonight remix) – 5:04 #"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Instrumental) – 4:01 *Digital download #"Never Gonna Give You Up" – 4:01 *12" vinyl #"Never Gonna Give You Up" – 4:01 #"Never Gonna Give You Up" (It's Tonight remix) – 5:04 #"Never Gonna Give You Up" (It's Tonight remix) nstrumental– 5:04

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the CD liner notes of "Never Gonna Give You Up". Recording *Recorded in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, 1999–2000. Credits *Mai Kuraki – songwriting, vocals, background vocals *Michael Africk – songwriting, background vocals, composing, producing, keyboards, arranging *Miguel Sá Pessoa – composing, producing, arranging, keyboards *Perry Geyer – composing, arranging, producing *DJ Me-Ya – remixing (track ) *Kanonji – producing, executive producing

Charts

Weekly charts

Yearly chart

Certification

Release history

Notes

References

External links

"Never Gonna Give You Up"
at Mai Kuraki's website. {{authority control 2000 singles Mai Kuraki songs 2000 songs Giza Studio singles Song recordings produced by Daiko Nagato