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Cliff Richard… tribute to ‘dear friend’ and secrets of his longevity
He has a series of concerts scheduled to be held in London, Blackpool and Glasgow, in November 2023.
“I am only doing about eight shows, I think, as the days of me going on tour for six months are way behind me.
“It is so terrifying to be on tour for lengths of time because you never know what day you are going to wake up and that [voice] is not going to work.
“We have all known artistes who retire, and then make four or five comebacks. And every time I hear someone making a comeback I am thinking, ‘They have run out of money’, so I don’t want anyone to say that about me.
“So I thought if I stop, it means I can stop working for a couple of years and then phone my management and say how about the Albert Hall for a couple of weeks.”
The singer has also revealed he will be releasing a new album to celebrate his 65 years in the music business, with a special tribute to Olivia Newton-John.
He has recorded orchestral versions of his greatest hits, called ‘Cliff with Strings – My Kinda Life’, set to be released on 3rd November.
In his announcement of the album, he also divulged it will contain a reworked version of his and Olivia’s duet ‘Suddenly’ in memory of the late star.
Cliff… in the ’60s
‘Suddenly’ was originally recorded by Cliff and Olivia, in 1980, for the film ‘Xanadu’, with the reworked version taken from their performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, in October 2015.
The new arrangement has been created by Chris Walden and is said to bring ‘an emotional beauty’ to their voices in harmony.
Cliff and Olivia shared a long friendship and he and his manager had done a lot to help Olivia build her career by inviting her to appear on his first BBC TV series, back in the ’70s.
Speaking about her death, Cliff revealed he spoke to her five weeks before her passing and said they had a ‘soul-mate friendship’.
Olivia tragically died at age 73, on 8th August, last year, at her ranch in Southern California, following the Grease star’s 30-year battle with breast cancer.
Discussing the upcoming album, Cliff said: “It is really an emotional journey, to listen back to some of my original vocals and hear just how young I was and how my style changed over the years”.
Referring to the secrets of his longevity, he said: “I had to give up things I loved”.
Cliff credits his diet with a certain regime of eating a special diet and says he deprives himself of the things he loves, in order to stay in shape.
“It’s not really a diet. I just eat quite well these days, but I only eat what I’m supposed to eat.
“Yes, I have to give up certain things that I loved before, but there are so many vegetables and different things I can eat, that I do”.
In an interview, Cliff also revealed the photos for his 2024 calendar – all taken on a ‘fabulously relaxing cruise.’
There is also talk that Cliff will appear on BBC Two and iPlayer over the festive season for ‘Cliff at Christmas’ – a one-off show where he’ll perform some of his Christmas classics.
When Cliff Richard visited Sri Lanka, in February, 2007, I was invited to meet him, in his suite, at a hotel, in Colombo, and I presented him with my music page, which carried his story, and he was impressed.
In return, he personally autographed a souvenir for me…that was Cliff Richard, a truly wonderful human being.