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Sir Cliff Richard OBE, (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October, 1940; Lucknow, India) is a major pop star and singer from England. With his backing group The Shadows, he dominated the British popular music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before the advent of The Beatles. A conversion to Christianity and subsequent softening of his music led to his having more of a pop than rock image. Although never able to achieve the same impact in the United States as he had in Britain, in spite of having several chart hits there, Richard has remained a popular music, film, and television personality in the UK and also retains a following in several other countries. During the last six decades, Cliff Richard has charted many hit singles, and holds the record (along with Elvis Presley) as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all of its active decades (1950s–2000s). According to his website, he has sold 250 million records over the course of his career. *. In the British charts alone, Richard has had more than 150 singles, albums and EPs make the top 20 *
1940—1958: Childhood Harry Rodger Webb was born in Lucknow, India in 1940 to parents Rodger and Dorothy (formerly Dazely) Webb . A year later his family moved to Calcutta. In 1947, after Indian independence, the family moved to Britain. Life in England was not easy; for three years the Webbs did not have their own family home and stayed with various relatives until 1951 when they were awarded a council house in the town of Cheshunt. 1958—1963: Success and stardom
1964—1975: Changing circumstances As with the other existing rock acts in Britain, Richard's career was affected by the advent of The Beatles and the Mersey sound in 1963 and 1964. However, his popularity was well established enough to allow him to weather the storm and continue to have hits in the charts throughout the 1960s, albeit not at the level that he had enjoyed before. Nor did doors open to him in the US market; he was not part of the British Invasion, and the American public had little awareness of him. Another important aspect of Cliff's life was his conversion to Christianity in 1964. Standing up publicly as a Christian affected his career in several ways. Firstly, Cliff believed that he should quit rock 'n roll, believing that he could no longer be the rocker who had been called a "crude exhibitionist" and "too sexy for TV" and a threat to parents' daughters, although his image had already become tamer due to his film roles and well-spoken voice on radio and TV. He intended at first to reform his ways and become a teacher, but Christian friends told him that he did not need to abandon his career just because he had become a Christian. Soon after, Cliff re-emerged and performed with Christian groups and recorded some Christian material. He still recorded secular songs with the Shadows, but he gave a lot of his time to Christian work. As time progressed, Cliff balanced his life and work, which enabled him to remain one of the most popular singers in Britain as well as one of the best-known Christians. Cliff Richard's first straight acting role took place in the 1968 film Two a Penny, in which he played a young man who gets involved in drug dealing while questioning his life after his girlfriend changes her attitude. He also twice represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest, both times unsuccessfully, though his first attempt, "Congratulations" in 1968, was a global hit and has become a standard, still sung on suitable occasions. But in the contest he was defeated by Massiel, from Spain. In 1973 he came third with Power to all our friends, finishing behind Luxembourg's Anne-Marie David and Spain's Mocedades. Cliff also hosted the BBC's qualifying heat for the Eurovision Song Contest, A Song for Europe, in 1970, 1971 and 1972. After the Shadows split in 1968, Cliff Richard recorded without the band. He had already become accustomed to the Shadows' absence and was able to record in a variety of settings. Although in the early 1960s many fans regretted that Cliff had tried out songs which were not strictly in the rock 'n roll area, the process of getting used to recording with the Shadows as the "rock group", while at other times singing with other musicians helped him to develop and become a more versatile artist. During the 1970s, Cliff took part in television shows, such as It's Cliff, many of which also starred Hank Marvin. These shows,for a time, made Cliff into a television personality more than a recording artist. In 1972, he made a short BBC television comedy film called The Case with appearances from comedians and dueting on songs with Olivia Newton-John, the first woman with whom he ever sang a duet. Cliff was in everyone's homes, and gave enjoyment to all the family, and remained a successful pop recording presence. 1976—1994: Comeback Cliff and others (like his former Shadow, Bruce Welch) decided that they would bring Cliff Richard back as a "rock" artist. This collaboration produced the 1976 landmark Cliff album I'm Nearly Famous', which included the classic rock guitar-driven track "Devil Woman" and the ballad "Miss You Nights". Cliff and his fans were excited about this success for a man who had been a part of British rock from its early days. Many music names such as Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Elton John were seen sporting "I'm Nearly Famous" badges, pleased that Cliff was getting back into the heavier rock in which he had begun his career. Notwithstanding this, Cliff continued to release gospel tinged albums in parallel with his rock and pop albums. For example, 'Small Corners' from 1978 contained the singles 'Yes He Lives'. Despite his 1976 comeback, this single failed to chart in the United Kingdom. In 1979 Cliff teamed up with the producer 'Alan Tarney' for the pop album 'I'm no hero'. The single from it "We Don't Talk Anymore" hit number one. It was his first time at the top in over ten years, and the song would become his biggest-selling single ever. At long last he had some success in the United States: His 1976 single "Devil Woman" accompanied by a promotional tour had given him a In 1986 Cliff Richard teamed up with The Young Ones to re-record his smash hit "Living Doll for the charity Comic Relief. Along with the song, the recording contained comedy dialog between Cliff and The Young One. It went to Back in the UK during the next years and throughout the 1980s, Cliff Richard remained one of the biggest music artists in the country. In the space of a few years he worked with Elton John, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, Julian Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Stevie Wonder, Phil Everly, Janet Jackson, and Van Morrison. He also did more work with Olivia Newton-John, and in 1989 filled the Wembley Stadium for a few nights with a spectacular titled "The Event". The Shadows later re-formed (and later again split), and recorded on their own, but re-united with Cliff in 1978 and 1984 for some concerts. 1995—: Sir Cliff Cliff Richard was knighted on 25 October 1995. He was the first rock star to be so honoured, ahead of Sir Paul McCartney (1997) and Sir Elton John (1998). Sir Cliff is number 56 in the 2002 100 Greatest Britons list, sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public. Adored especially by baby boomer women, many of whom camp out for his concert tickets, he has become a fixture of the British entertainment world and of British public life. The Ultimate Pop Star, a Channel 4 programme broadcast in 2004, revealed that Cliff Richard had sold more singles in the UK than any other music artist, ahead of the Beatles in second place and Elvis Presley in third. Sir Cliff has become joint owner of the Arora International Hotel in Manchester, which opened in June 2004. "Cliff and the Shadows" had not performed as an act since 1989/1990, but on June 14, 2004 Cliff joined the Shadows on stage at the London Palladium. The Shadows had decided to re-form for one final tour of the UK, with this concert heralded as their final ever concert as the Shadows. Sir Cliff spends much of his time at his house Barbados, and has lent it to British Prime Minister Tony Blair at times. * Recently, Cliff demonstrated that his image isn't entirely clean-cut when he told Gordon Ramsay to 'Fuck off' on The F-Word. After offering Cliff several wines to taste and declaring one "Very harsh, undrinkable" Ramsey then revealed it to be one from Cliff's own vineyard. Cliff's current project is an album of duets, including material with Brian May, Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, Barry Gibb and Daniel O'Donnell. Released on 6th November to co-incide with the UK leg of his latest world tour 'Here and now' which opened to rave reviews at Wembley Arena on 4th November 2006. Cliff performed several lesser known, but fan-favourite songs including, 'My Kinda Life', 'How did she get here', 'Hey Mr. Dream Maker', 'For Life', 'A Matter of Moments', 'When the girl in your arms', 'Every face tells a story', 'Peace in our time' and the new Christmas single '21st Century Christmas'. Sir Cliff's mother, Dorothy Webb, suffers from advanced Alzheimer's Disease. In a September 2006 interview with The Daily Mail, he spoke about the difficulties he and his sisters had in dealing with their mother's dementia.* Sexuality Cliff Richard has remained a "Bachelor Boy", giving rise to the occasional rumours about his sexuality. In 1974, he denied a rumour that he had asked his good friend Olivia Newton-John for her hand in marriage. Later, his relationship with tennis player Sue Barker was the subject of much gossip, but they disappointed those who expected them to marry. Insiders in the entertainment industry often refer to Cliff's sexuality as "The best kept secret in showbusiness". He has frequently denied accusations of homosexuality. Chart accomplishments Current rankings: Christmas songs Cliff Richard has aimed for the Christmas number one single on several occasions, sometimes successfully and other times not. His first Christmas number one (on some charts) was in 1960, but it was not a Yuletide-themed song: In later years, he often released songs with a Christmas or other religious theme: He also featured on the 1989 Christmas number one by Band Aid II, thus appearing at the top of the charts for three consecutive Christmases. Discography See Cliff Richard discography. Trivia See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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