Sir Cliff Richard’s recording career can be summed up as a staggering array of statistics that perfectly reflect his 57 years in showbusiness.
Since debut album Cliff in April 1959, he has released 46 studio albums, seven soundtracks, 35 compilations and 11 live albums.
Sir Cliff is the only act to have had a number one single in the UK in five consecutive decades.
What’s more, alongside Elvis Presley, he holds the record for featuring in each of the first six decades of the UK Singles Chart (1950s-2000s).
Here we take a decade-by-decade look at some of the hits that have made him a record-breaker.
1950s
Song: Move It
Year: 1958
UK Singles Chart placing: Number two
Trivia: Called by Sir Cliff “my one outstanding rock and roll classic”, Move It has been described as the first authentic rock and roll record by a British artist.
1960s
Song: The Young Ones
Year: 1962
UK Singles Chart placing: Number one
Trivia: The title song to the 1961 film of the same name, The Young Ones spent six weeks as a chart-topper. In the 1980s, the song was appropriated as the theme to anarchic BBC Two comedy The Young Ones starring the late Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Christopher Ryan.
1970s
Song: We Don’t Talk Anymore
Year: 1979
UK Singles Chart placing: Number one
Trivia: At four million sales, this is Sir Cliff’s biggest selling hit worldwide. A music giant in the UK, he never made a major impact in the US.
1980s
Song: Mistletoe And Wine
Year: 1988
UK Singles Chart Placing: Number one.
Trivia: A Christmas number one, Mistletoe And Wine was the biggest selling hit of the year. It is also Sir Cliff’s only chart-topper of the decade.
1990s
Song: The Millennium Prayer
Year: 1999
UK Singles Chart Placing: Number one
Trivia: This song combined The Lord’s Prayer with the tune of Auld Lang Syne and smashed the chart despite very little airplay from radio stations. EMI, which had been Sir Cliff’s record label for 40 years, refused to release it so he took it to an independent label.
2000s
Song: 21st Century Christmas
Year: 2006
UK Singles Chart Placing: Number two
Trivia: Sir Cliff just missed out on breaking another record thanks to Simon Cowell. Leona Lewis, the winner of ITV talent show The X Factor, kept him off the top spot with her single A Moment Like This.
2010s
Song: I Still Believe In You
Year: 2014
UK Singles Chart Placing: Number 57
Trivia: A re-entry in 2014, I Still Believe In You reached number seven when it was originally released in 1992.
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