# Rick Roll Meme: Put Yourself in the Never Gonna Give You Up Video > The Rick Roll meme sends people to the 1987 "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video when they expect something else. Canonical: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend Updated: 2026-11-06 Published: 2026-11-06 Author: MakeViral Team (https://www.makeviral.ai/about) Publisher: MakeViral (https://www.makeviral.ai) The **Rick Roll meme** sends people to the 1987 "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video when they expect something else. This Rick Roll AI template puts you in that video instead: the mic dance, the trench coat under the blue brick arches and the chain-link fence. You need one clear photo of your face, two for a duo. You sing at a vintage microphone, dance in a long trench coat under blue-lit brick arches, then grin at the camera by a sunny chain-link fence, like the Rick Roll music video. One photo in, a 10-second vertical clip out. Also called: Rickroll, Rick Rolling, Rickrolled, Never Gonna Give You Up meme, Rick Astley dance. **Make it now:** [Make this video](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/create). 1 photo · 10 s · 9:16 with sound · 126 credits, charged once · ready in a few minutes · no prompt to write. Keyword: rick roll meme. Also answers: rick roll ai, rick roll video, rick roll dance, rickroll ai video, rick roll music video, never gonna give you up ai, rick roll meme video, rick roll dance meme, rick roll meme generator, rick roll trench coat, rick astley ai, rick roll ai video, rickroll ai, rick roll cat, rick roll dog, rick roll dance video, rick roll prank generator, rick roll your friends, rick roll meme origin, when did the rick roll trend start, who started the rick roll trend, rick roll trend, rick roll meaning, rickroll ai generated, never gonna give you up ai generated, rick astley ai generated, rick roll meme tiktok, rick roll official video, rick roll myself, rick roll dance move, rick roll prompt, rick roll cat version, rick roll dog version, rickroll video. ## What is the Rick Roll trend, and where did it start? The song came out in July 1987 and topped the charts in 25 countries, the US Billboard Hot 100 among them. Its video, directed by Simon West, shows the singer at a vintage microphone, dancing in a light trench coat under blue-lit brick arches at night and along a sunny chain-link fence. The Rickroll began on 4chan in about May 2007, as Know Your Meme records it: a link that promised a hyped video game trailer opened the music video instead. Rick Rolling spread fast. On 1 April 2008 every featured video on the YouTube front page led to it, and the official upload passed one billion views on 28 July 2021. On 5 November 2026 it had 1.83 billion views, and #rickroll had 120,020 TikTok videos with 2.83 billion views. The meme still works on TikTok: a Rick Roll joke by @emagjoke got 8.9 million views in December 2025. The AI version is new: from 2 November 2026 two AI video sites added Rick Roll templates that put your face in the video, the clip at the top of this page among them. There is no big new TikTok wave yet. Rickroll is also spelled Rick Roll. ### Rick Roll trend timeline - **1987-07**: Never Gonna Give You Up comes out as a single and tops the charts in 25 countries, with a music video directed by Simon West. Source: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ). - **2007-05**: The Rickroll starts on 4chan: a link that promises a video game trailer opens the music video instead. Source: [Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rickroll). - **2008-04-01**: For April Fools' Day, every featured video on the YouTube front page leads to the music video. Source: [Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rickroll). - **2021-07-28**: The official music video passes one billion YouTube views. Source: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ). - **2025-12-08**: A Rick Roll joke by @emagjoke gets 8.9 million TikTok views and 1 million likes. Source: [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@emagjoke/video/7581553356724899079). - **2026-11-02**: AI video sites add Rick Roll templates that put a new face in the music video scenes. ## What the Rick Roll video looks like This is the trend's template clip, made with an AI-made person, so it is not a MakeViral result. You, With a friend and Pet make a new AI scene from your photo in the same look, with no song: you add it when you post. - **Example 1** (15 s, 9:16 MP4 with sound): The trend's template clip: an AI-made singer in a light jacket sings under the blue-lit brick arches, dances by the sunny chain-link fence and grins into the camera, the Rick Roll music video look in 15 seconds. With its sound. - Video: https://www.makeviral.ai/media/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/original-sample-v2.mp4 - Poster: https://www.makeviral.ai/media/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/original-sample-v1.jpg ## How to make the Rick Roll video on MakeViral Everything runs in the browser. No editing app, no watermark. ### The one-tap way (no prompt to write) 1. **Add your photo.** Press "Make yours" and add your photo, face clear. Take it with the camera or pick it from your library. Start here: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/create 2. **Press Generate.** The button shows the price. Seedance 2.5 films the Rick Roll scene straight from your photo, with no in-between picture, for 10 seconds with original sound. You write no prompt. 3. **Download or share.** The video is ready in a few minutes as a 9:16 MP4. Download it, share it from your phone, or find it later in My videos. ### The by-hand way, with the exact prompts The one-tap flow runs this prompt for you. The video model takes your photo as a reference ([Image 1]) and films the scene straight from it, with no photo step first. AI Video takes one photo as the first frame, so it cannot run this prompt the same way: the prompt is here to read. #### Variant: You Settings: 1 photo (your photo, face clear) · Seedance 2.5 · 10 s · 720p · 9:16 · with sound · 126 credits in one tap. 1. The video prompt is filled in. Settings: Seedance 2.5, 10 s, 720p, 9:16, sound on. The video prompt: ```text A late-1980s pop music video, filmed like a real film on 35 mm: three sets with hard cuts between them. Photorealistic, natural skin, soft film grain, warm 1980s color, not CGI, not a cartoon. The face stays large, sharp and well lit in every shot. Replace the singer with the person in [Image 1], in every shot: copy the exact face from [Image 1] (the face shape, eye color and eye shape, eyebrows, nose, mouth, skin tone, age, hair color, hair length and hairstyle, and any beard, moustache, glasses or freckles). Keep the clothes from [Image 1]. The same real person from the first frame to the last, so their friends recognize them at once. Never another singer, never drift to another face. Shot 1 [0-3s]: a bright white studio, sunlight through a tall arched lattice window throws a pattern on the wall behind. The singer stands at a chrome vintage microphone on a stand, sings into it with a big smile, sways from side to side and snaps the fingers to the beat. Medium shot from the knees up. Shot 2 [3-6.5s]: hard cut, night: a long wall of blue-lit brick arches, warm lamp light inside each arch, a wet stone floor. The singer now wears a long light beige trench coat, open, over the clothes from [Image 1], and dances the classic 1980s side-to-side step: knees bent, both forearms swinging in front of the chest, the hips swaying, singing toward the camera. Medium-wide shot, the camera pushes in. Shot 3 [6.5-10s]: hard cut, bright daylight: a tall chain-link fence with leaf shadows across it. The singer, in the clothes from [Image 1], dances along the fence with the same step, points at the camera and grins while singing. Medium shot from the waist up, the face large. The lips move as if singing along. No dialogue throughout the entire video. No background music: only soft footsteps and room tone. One person in the whole video. No other singer, no backup dancers, no blended faces, no extra limbs, no text, no captions, no logos, no watermark. ``` 2. Press Generate, then download the 9:16 MP4. One-tap version of this variant: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/create #### Variant: With a friend Settings: 2 photos (the singer (you) + the dancer (your friend)) · Seedance 2.5 · 10 s · 720p · 9:16 · with sound · 126 credits in one tap. 1. The video prompt is filled in. Settings: Seedance 2.5, 10 s, 720p, 9:16, sound on. The video prompt: ```text A late-1980s pop music video, filmed like a real film on 35 mm: three sets with hard cuts between them. Photorealistic, natural skin, soft film grain, warm 1980s color, not CGI, not a cartoon. Both faces stay large, sharp and well lit. The singer is the person in [Image 1], in every shot: copy the exact face from [Image 1] (the face shape, eye color and eye shape, eyebrows, nose, mouth, skin tone, age, hair color, hair length and hairstyle, and any beard, moustache, glasses or freckles), with the clothes from [Image 1]. The dancer is the person in [Image 2], in every shot: copy the exact face from [Image 2] (the face shape, eye color and eye shape, eyebrows, nose, mouth, skin tone, age, hair color, hair length and hairstyle, and any beard, moustache, glasses or freckles), with the clothes from [Image 2]. Never blend their faces and never swap their clothes. Each face stays the same from the first frame to the last, so their friends recognize them at once. If an image shows an animal, that performer is that animal standing upright, with its own face, fur and markings, not a person. Shot 1 [0-3s]: a bright white studio, sunlight through a tall arched lattice window throws a pattern on the wall. The singer sings into a chrome vintage microphone on a stand, sways and snaps the fingers; the dancer dances behind on the left, smiling. Medium shot. Shot 2 [3-6.5s]: hard cut, night: a long wall of blue-lit brick arches, warm lamp light inside each arch, a wet stone floor. The singer wears a long light beige trench coat, open, over the clothes from [Image 1]; the two dance side by side, the singer on the left, the dancer on the right, in the classic 1980s side-to-side step: knees bent, forearms swinging, singing toward the camera. Medium-wide shot, the camera pushes in. Shot 3 [6.5-10s]: hard cut, bright daylight: a tall chain-link fence with leaf shadows. The two dance along the fence side by side, the singer on the left, point at the camera together and grin. Medium shot from the waist up, both faces large. The singer's lips move as if singing along. No dialogue throughout the entire video. No background music: only soft footsteps and room tone. Only these two people. No one else, no extra limbs, no text, no captions, no logos, no watermark. ``` 2. Press Generate, then download the 9:16 MP4. One-tap version of this variant: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/create?variant=duo #### Variant: Pet Settings: 1 photo (your pet) · Kling 3.0 · 10 s · 1080p · 9:16 · with sound · 56 credits in one tap. 1. Open [AI Photo with this template](https://www.makeviral.ai/photo?template=rick-roll-ai-trend&variant=pet) and add your photo (your pet). The photo prompt is filled in: ```text Use the uploaded image as the base. The pet from the uploaded image stands upright on its hind legs like a 1980s pop singer at a chrome vintage microphone on a stand, wearing a long light beige trench coat, open, over a dark top, its front paws raised in a small dance move. Behind it a long wall of blue-lit brick arches at night, warm lamp light inside each arch, a wet stone floor. The pet's face is large and sharp, turned to the camera, mouth a little open as if singing. Keep the same species and breed, face, eyes, ears, muzzle, fur colors, fur length and markings as in the photo, with the natural body volume and proportions of that animal: never flattened, squashed or stretched. A real animal with its own paws, no human hands. Medium shot. A late-1980s music video look, photorealistic, soft film grain, warm color, vertical 9:16. No people, no text, no logos. ``` 2. Check the still before you spend credits on the video. Everything the video model does starts from that one frame. 3. Press the film button on the still to open AI Video with the still as the first frame. Settings: Kling 3.0, 10 s, 1080p, 9:16, sound on. The video prompt: ```text A late-1980s pop music video shot, one continuous take, the camera slowly pushes in. The pet in the trench coat sways from side to side at the microphone, bobs its head to the beat and swings its front paws in front of its chest in a small dance, opening and closing its mouth as if singing, then tilts its head at the camera. The coat swings a little; its ears, whiskers and fur move. Keep the pet's face, fur, markings and the trench coat exactly as in the image, the natural body of that animal, its own paws, no human hands. Audio: soft footsteps and room tone. No dialogue, no background music. No people, no extra animals, no extra legs, no morphing, no text, no logos. ``` 4. Press Generate, then download the 9:16 MP4. One-tap version of this variant: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/create?variant=pet ### Which photo works best? Use **one sharp photo of your face**, head and shoulders or from the waist up. The clip shows your face big in the mic shot and at the fence. - Daylight or bright room light, in focus, eyes open, face turned to the camera. - No sunglasses, no hat, nothing over the face. Your own glasses are fine: they stay on. - Your clothes come from the photo. In the arches shot a long light trench coat goes over them. - **With a friend:** photo 1 is the singer, photo 2 the friend who dances with you. One person per photo. - **Pet:** one photo of your cat or dog with the face and the body in view. - Want to rick roll your friends with their own face? Use a photo of a friend who said yes. Never a celebrity or a stranger. ## How many credits does it cost? You pay per video in credits, and the create page shows the exact price on the Generate button before you spend anything. The one-tap price covers the scene photo and the video, charged once. The cheaper models are there if you run the prompts by hand in AI Video. | Video model | Settings | Credits | | --- | --- | --- | | Seedance 2.5 (this template) | 10 s, 720p, straight from your photos, one tap | 126 | Credits come with a plan; see [pricing](https://www.makeviral.ai/pricing). A failed video gives its credits back. ## What happens in your Rick Roll video, shot by shot? Your clip follows the three sets of the Rick Roll music video, with hard cuts between them: | Time | What you see | |---|---| | 0-3 s | A bright white studio with sunlight through a tall arched window on the wall. You sing into a chrome vintage microphone on a stand, sway and snap your fingers. | | 3-6.5 s | Night, a long wall of blue-lit brick arches with warm lamps inside. You wear the long light Rick Roll trench coat and do the side-to-side Rick Roll dance: bent knees, forearms swinging, a small hip sway. | | 6.5-10 s | Bright day, a tall chain-link fence with leaf shadows. You dance along it, point at the camera and grin. | **With a friend** adds your friend as the dancer next to you under the arches and at the fence. **Pet** puts your cat or dog at the microphone in the trench coat under the arches, swaying and singing. ## How does MakeViral make it, and what does it cost? No version uses footage of the official video. The AI builds a new Rick Roll music video scene from your photo with top-quality AI video models, so the sets and the moves are new, and your face comes from your photo. | | You | With a friend | Pet | |---|---|---|---| | Photos | 1, you | 2, the singer and the dancer | 1, your pet | | How | Straight from your photo, no in-between picture, so the face stays close | Straight from your two photos | A picture of your pet at the mic first, then the video | | Quality | One top setting | One top setting | Standard or Best | | Length | 10 s, vertical 9:16 | 10 s, vertical 9:16 | 10 s, vertical 9:16 | | Sound | Footsteps and room sound, no music | The same | The same | The exact price shows on the Generate button before you spend anything, and the video waits in My videos when it is ready. You write no prompt. **Why is the song not on the result?** Every version builds a new scene with its own shots and timing, so it comes with quiet room sound and no music. The song fits right on top when you post. ## How do you add the song and rick roll your friends? 1. Download your clip from My videos. 2. In TikTok or Instagram, upload it and pick **Never Gonna Give You Up** by Rick Astley from the sound library. Turn the clip's own sound down to zero. 3. Start the song at the chorus, so the dance lands on "Never gonna give you up". Your mouth moves as if you sing along, but it is no exact lip sync: the AI does not know the words. **The prank:** the joke works best when nobody sees it coming. Post it with a caption that promises something else ("the leaked trailer", "my honest review", "you will not believe what happened"), or send the clip to a friend who expects a different video. A Rick Roll meme video with your own face is the 2026 twist on the old link prank. **Hashtags:** #rickroll (120,020 TikTok videos and 2.83 billion views on 5 November 2026), #nevergonnagiveyouup (71,513 videos) and #rickastley (67,422 videos). Keep the platform's AI label on. Want more music video scenes? Take the spinning chair in the [Birds of a Feather trend](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/birds-of-a-feather-ai-trend), or do the horse dance in the [Gangnam Style AI dance](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/gangnam-style-ai-dance). ## What goes wrong, and how do you fix it? | Problem | Fix | |---|---| | Your face looks less like you in the wide arches shot | Use a sharp, front-facing photo in good light. The mic and fence shots keep the face big; run it again if one take is off. | | The dance looks stiff or too fast | Every run is a new take. Run it again. | | A hand or the microphone bends in a strange way | Fast moves can blur in AI video. Run it again if it bothers you. | | With a friend, the two faces mix | Use two clear photos with one person each, and keep the order: photo 1 is the singer. | | Your pet loses the trench coat or looks different | Use a sharp photo where the face, ears and markings are clear, or try Best. | | The video model refuses the photo | Some photos get refused. The credits come back; try another photo. | ## Rick Roll trend questions ### What is the Rick Roll meme? Rick Rolling is a bait-and-switch prank: you send a link or a video that looks like something else, and it opens the 1987 Never Gonna Give You Up music video instead. Whoever falls for it got Rickrolled. The meme is also called the Rickroll, and it is the same joke in 2026 as in 2007. ### What is the Rick Roll meme origin, and when did the Rick Roll trend start? It started on 4chan in about May 2007, by Know Your Meme's record: a link that promised a video game trailer opened the music video. Who started the Rick Roll trend is not known by name; it grew out of an older 4chan link joke. It went mainstream on 1 April 2008, when YouTube sent every featured video on its front page to the clip. ### What does Rick Roll mean? To Rick Roll someone means to trick them into opening the Never Gonna Give You Up video. The Rick Roll meaning comes from the singer's first name and "roll", from the older 4chan joke of the duckroll. ### Which scenes are in the Rick Roll music video? The Rick Roll official video, directed by Simon West in 1987, has a few sets: the singer at a vintage microphone in a bright room with a lattice window light, a night scene under blue-lit brick arches where he dances in a long light trench coat, a sunny chain-link fence, and a bar. The trench coat and the side-to-side Rick Roll dance move under the arches are the parts everyone knows. ### How do I make a Rick Roll AI video of myself? Press "Create your own", pick You, add one photo and press Generate. MakeViral makes a 10-second vertical Rickroll AI video, a Rick Roll dance video with you at the microphone, in the trench coat under the arches and at the chain-link fence, in a few minutes. You write no prompt. Then add the song when you post. ### Is there a Rick Roll meme generator? Yes, this page works as one: add a photo and the AI video generator makes a Rick Roll meme video with your face in the music video look. It is also a Rick Roll prank generator, since you can send the clip to a friend who expects something else. ### Is the song on the Rick Roll AI video? No. Your clip comes with footsteps and room sound, because every version builds a new scene with its own timing. Pick Never Gonna Give You Up from the TikTok or Instagram sound library when you post, and turn the clip's own sound down. ### Can I make a Rick Astley AI video of the singer himself? No. Rick Astley AI generated videos of the real singer are not what this template makes: it puts you, your friend or your pet in his place. Use only your own photos or photos of adults who said yes, never a celebrity. ### Is a Rickroll AI generated video the real music video with my face? No. The AI builds a new Rickroll AI generated scene in the same style from your photo: a vintage microphone, blue-lit brick arches, a trench coat and a chain-link fence. It is a Never Gonna Give You Up AI generated look, not the 1987 footage. Your face and clothes come from your photo, with the trench coat on top in the arches shot. ### Can my cat or dog do the Rick Roll dance? Yes. Pick Pet and add one photo. Your pet stands at the microphone in a light trench coat under the blue brick arches, sways and opens its mouth as if it sings. It is a Rick Roll cat version or a Rick Roll dog version of the Rick Roll dance meme: Standard is the lower price, Best gives smoother moves. ### Can I rick roll my friends, or rick roll myself, with this? Yes. To rick roll yourself, add your own photo. To rick roll your friends with their face in the video, add a photo of a friend who said yes on You, or pick With a friend: photo 1 sings and photo 2 dances next to them. ### Is there a Rick Roll prompt I can copy? No creator shared one for this trend, and the AI video sites that offer it only ask for a photo. MakeViral uses its own prompt for the three scenes (the microphone, the arches with the trench coat and the fence), plus a face lock for your photo, so you write nothing. ### How long is the video, and is it good for the Rick Roll meme on TikTok? Every version makes a 10-second vertical 9:16 MP4, ready for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. The Rick Roll meme on TikTok works best with the song added and a caption that hides the joke. ### Does the Rick Roll AI video cost credits? Yes. Each video costs credits, and the create page shows the exact price on the Generate button before you spend anything. For Pet, Standard costs less than Best. If a video fails, the credits come back. ## Other AI video templates and tools - [Birds of a Feather Trend: Take the Chair in the Music Video Scene](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/birds-of-a-feather-ai-trend): You lie back in a black swivel chair in a wood-paneled office with a green carpet. The camera looks straight down, the chair turns slowly and you sing up into the lens, like the Billie Eilish chair video. One photo in, a 10-second vertical clip out. - [Gangnam Style Dance AI: Put Your Face in the Viral Trio Reel](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/gangnam-style-ai-dance): Three friends, one selfie camera, a sunset street in Seoul: the 2026 Gangnam Style trend, where each friend gets a solo to the chorus. Add one photo to take the middle, or bring one or two friends. - [Crazy Frog AI Trend: You on the Invisible Motorbike](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/crazy-frog-ai-trend): Sit in the air, fists forward, and race down a futuristic highway while a car chases you. Add one photo, two with a friend at the wheel, or three with your own car, and AI puts you into the viral clip, with its sound. - [Meme Video](https://www.makeviral.ai/tools/meme-video-generator): One line of text, one image, six seconds. The cheapest format to produce and the easiest one to test ten different ways in an afternoon. - [AI photo generator](https://www.makeviral.ai/ai-photo-generator) - [All AI video templates](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates) ## Make your own Rick Roll video Add one photo and press Generate. No prompt to write. 126 credits, charged once. [Make this video](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/rick-roll-ai-trend/create)