Yeah, I think before his current meme status, he had similar place in popculture back then as well... Whether it was people coming up with wacky theories of Rick actually singing Kylies songs in the recording booth or Him being voted to every category in Smash Hits readers polls (the best female singer, the worst female singer, the best male singer, etc those sort of polls.)
You can actually see the difference of him performing then vs him performing now: he seems to smile so much more now and doesn't seem as tense as back in the day. I like that timid young man who takes him self seriously but I'm also so glad he grew up to be this goofy old man who has learned to just enjoy himself.