Rick Astley covers Foo Fighters hit 'Everlong' to "lift the spirits"

Rick Astley has covered the classic Foo Fighters track 'Everlong' on his YouTube channel, paying tribute to the band by performing their 1997 single.

The 'Never Gonna Give You Up' star forged a surprising friendship with frontman Dave Grohl after the pair joined each other onstage at Japan's Summer Sonic festival two years ago.

The pair performed Nirvana‘s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ before breaking into Astley’s own back catalogue.

The duo reunited on several occasions – including at last year’s Reading Festival.

“Sometimes you just have to find the song that’s gonna lift your spirits and put you in another place, and I’ve been doing that a lot recently with music,” Astley said at the start of his acoustic 'Everlong' set.

“And one of the bands I always go to – believe it or not – is Foo Fighters, so here we go. Here’s my version of a song of their’s called ‘Everlong’.”

Astley recently expressed his hopes of pairing up with Foo Fighters for a collaborative single.

“I would be well up for releasing it, maybe for charity one day,” he said.

Speaking of the Summer Sonic festival appearance, Astley said, “I had never met them before, I have no idea why Grohl would invite me onstage."

Watch Rick Astley's cover of the 1997 classic below: