Fake Radiohead album countdown ends with Rick Astley

When the countdown on radioheadlp7.com ran out at 8am BST on Saturday 29 September, the page switched to the words “The most gigantic lying hoax of all time” and sent visitors on to YouTube and Rick Astley's video for “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

The site went up on Friday with nothing on it but the clock and a claim that it would lead to Radiohead's seventh album. That was easy to believe after days in which fans had been decoding messages on Dead Air Space, the band's blog, and the band had said the album was finished.

Many fans on the message boards were wary, and some suggested the page was a trap to collect passwords. On Friday a spokesperson for the band told NME.COM that the site was a hoax with nothing to do with Radiohead¹.