October 14, 2010. Copyright 2010, Graphic News. All rights reserved

British pop star whose appeal has endured for over half a century, Sir Cliff Richard is 70
By Susan Shepherd

LONDON, October 14, Graphic News:  He was Britain's answer to Elvis. John Lennon credited him with having the UK's first rock 'n' roll record -- Move It -- in October 1958. He shared a platform with the American evangelist Billy Graham during his missions to London in the 1960s and has twice represented Great Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest. He holds the record for the most hit singles by a British act in the UK charts -- 134 -- and is the only Brit to have had a number one hit in five consecutive decades. He has been knighted for his services to charity -- notably with The Evangelical Alliance Relief fund, for which he gave his first fundraising concert at the Royal Albert Hall more than 40 years ago. And as he notches up what his Bible would call his "threescore years and ten", the septuagenarian rocker is back at that same iconic venue, home of the celebrated Proms season and which he has played in excess of 80 times, for six sell-out nights in his 70th birthday week. Tickets for the London leg of Sir Cliff's "Bold as Brass" tour 2010/2011 went on sale in March and were all gone within 72 hours.
 
"I am making 70 the new 50", he joked in an interview recently. "I hope to play tennis on my 100th". Nicknamed the Peter Pan of Pop for his youthful looks which, for many years, belied his true age, Richard's image has consistently been one of clean living.  Famously celibate for many years -- a brief romance with British tennis player Sue Barker in the mid-70s is the one relationship the public can best recall -- his long-term companions have included his manager and spokeperson, Bill Latham and, more recently, a former priest, American John McElynn. Richard refuses to be drawn on his sexuality, saying it is of no interest to his fans. At the same time, he has called on the Church of England to update its views on same-sex marriages, declaring that commitment between individuals is more important than gender.

Born in Lucknow, India, where his father managed a catering supply business to the Indian railway, young Harry Webb was just coming up to his eighth birthday when he, his parents, and his two younger sisters joined the British exodus from the newly partitioned sub-continent and returned "home" to a country they'd never even visited before. The teenage Harry was given a guitar and joined a skiffle band, before forming his own group, which, after two name changes, became Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The band dominated the pre-Beatles era, scoring their first Number One hit with Living Doll in 1959 and enjoying huge popular success with musical films such as The Young Ones (1961) and Summer Holiday (1963).
 
In a career spanning 52 years, with worldwide record sales in excess of 250 million -- among them the hit singles Devil Woman and We Don't Talk Any More -- Richard says his one regret is never having made it big in the States. He remains puzzled by his failure to win over American audiences, in the style of fellow musicians Elton John and Eric Clapton and, in his autobiography, published in 2008, tells how he finally had to face the fact that his U.S. distributor, EMI America, has never felt his material was right for the American market. Now resident in Barbados, where he says the humidity is perfect for his vocal chords, he recently announced he was thinking of selling off his inland estate, where former Prime Minister Tony Blair was once a guest, in favour of a more manageable flat overlooking the beach.
/ENDS