[Balin] Suddenly, everything makes sense

[Balin]

At a certain time, a man received fame for something he did.

Twenty years later, he found fame again because many others performed a different action.

Ten years later, he was present when someone else performed the second action, which drew a fair amount of media attention.

Who is he, and what are the events and actions?

[AlbatrossLover]

Relevant when the man did the original action? More than 30 years ago? 50? 100?

Was the action related to his job? An invention? Was it something that he did once? Multiple times? Continously through an extended period of time? Did many people see him do this action? Had anyone else done the action before him?

Is science relevant? Art? A war? A crime?

Was the action people did 20 years later inspired by him? Made possible by the thing he did? Was he alive then? 10 years after that?

[Balin]

Relevant when the man did the original action? It will help deduce it More than 30 years ago? Yes, somewhere between 30 and 50 years ago 50? 100?

Was the action related to his job? Yes An invention? No Was it something that he did once? Yes Multiple times? He did a (very) related action multiple times, though Continously through an extended period of time? Did many people see him do this action? Many saw the results of his action Had anyone else done the action before him? No

Is science relevant? Art? Not art, but the arts A war? A crime? No to rest

Was the action people did 20 years later inspired by him? Tentative No Made possible by the thing he did? The exact later action, Yes Was he alive then? Yes 10 years after that? Yes

[hominid]

Music relevant? theater? dance? film? TV? Is his profession related to this art?

Was the first action something he did with his body? Was it a gesture?

[Balin]

Music relevant? This theater? dance? film? TV? (also this, actually) Is his profession related to this art? Yes, to music

Was the first action something he did with his body? Among other things Was it a gesture? No

[AlbatrossLover]

Is the man a musician? Singer? Composer? Is a music video relevant? A musical?

[Balin]

Is the man a musician? Yes Singer? Yes Composer? Yes, he writes songs as well Is a music video relevant? Yes A musical? No

[AlbatrossLover]

Is the first action the recording/release of the song/music video? Is the second action related to the contents of the music video? Sharing the music video?

[wolfier]

Does it have anything to do with an Internet Meme?

[Balin]

Is the first action the recording/release of the song/music video? Yes Is the second action related to the contents of the music video? Sharing the music video? This

Does it have anything to do with an Internet Meme? Yes...

...should've made it an OOATP...

[AlbatrossLover]

...

So this is about Never Gonna Give You Up/Rickrolling/That one time someone rickrolled Rick Astley on reddit?

[Balin]

So this is about Never Gonna Give You Up/Rickrolling/That one time someone rickrolled Rick Astley on reddit? Yep.

****SPOILER****

Rick Astley released the song (and corresponding video for) "Never Gonna Give You Up" in 1987, and found new popularity when the phenomenon of rickrolling took off in 2008. This past June, a Redditor responded to one of Astley's posts with a link to what he claimed was a picture from backstage at a concert... but it was a rickroll. A few media outlets, including TIME, picked up the story.

[wolfier]

Nice one! So funny. It reminded me of a similar puzzle here...