Sir Cliff Richard is a British institution, one of the biggest-selling pop stars ever in the UK with a popularity that has endured since the 1950s. John Lennon once said that "before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music." His good nature has made him a figure of fun for some, but after more than half-a-century in the public eye, Sir Cliff is an English icon to be proud of.
Before the Beatles, Cliff Richard was the biggest star of British pop. He was marketed as a teen idol, an English Elvis complete with moody attitude, slick hair and good looks. His debut single “Move It” (1958) was a No.2 hit and one of the very earliest British rock songs. Cliff's 1959 chart-topper “Living Doll” sold over a million copies. Soon Cliff’s backing band changed their name from The Drifters (due to legal difficulties with the better-known American vocal group of the same name), to The Shadows, and with a unique contract they were able to record songs of their own too, eventually enjoying five UK No.1s including the original version of "Apache." Later, Cliff's hits became less rock'n'roll and more pop-oriented, and he had a string of further chart-toppers coming from musical movie showcases (in much the same way as Elvis), the most famous of which was Summer Holiday and its cheery theme song.
With the advent of the Beatles, Cliff slowly lost favour among the youth music market, and didn't join the ‘British Invasion’ of the US to achieve fame across the pond. His output became more middle-of-the-road, and was simply incomparable to the work of the Fab Four although he sustained chart success in Commonwealth countries such as Australia. His image as a conservative was reinforced when Cliff became a devout Christian, considered quitting his job as a ‘crude’ and ‘immoral’ pop star, and took a vow of chastity until marriage; Cliff has always been and remains single. The rock’n’roll era saw Cliff Richard pegged as something of an anachronism, too old-fashioned for the time and only appreciated by his original fans who were too old or unhip to ‘get’ the Beatles. Nevertheless, those fans were still enough to bring him success with big hits like “All My Love” (1967), the Eurovision entry “Congratulations” (1968), and “Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha” (1970). Meanwhile Cliff went into TV and began presenting shows.
In 1976 Cliff returned to his rock roots with “Devil Woman”, his first US Top 10 hit, and had even better success with “We Don’t Talk Anymore” in 1979. At the turn of the decade, "Carrie" and "Dreamin'" were major hits, and 1981’s “Wired for Sound” had a classic video showing Cliff in touch with the latest trends for roller-skating and portable cassette-players. Cliff continued to sporadically achieve Top 10 UK hits in the 80s, peaking with the 1988 Christmas No.1 “Mistletoe and Wine”. “Saviour's Day” was another chart-topper in 1990, before Cliff moved into musical theatre with his own take on a Wuthering Heights character, Heathcliff, which toured the UK for over a year. In 1995 Cliff Richard became a ‘Sir’ when he was knighted by the Queen. The following year he famously led an impromptu singalong for rain-soaked fans at Wimbledon.
Sir Cliff Richard’s 20th Century swansong was “Millennium Prayer”, a charity single which combined the words of the Lord’s Prayer with the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”. Sir Cliff’s long-standing label, EMI, refused to release it, and many national radio stations refused to play it. Several years later VH1 voted it the all-time worst UK No.1. Despite all of this, it still managed to top the charts for two weeks, before being knocked off the top spot at Christmas by Westlife.
Sir Cliff continues to periodically release LPs and Christmas singles, to modest success in his homeland. In total, he is estimated to have sold around 250m records worldwide.
