Cliff Richard and The Shadows at Liverpool Echo Arena

Wednesday, 07 October, 2009

Sir Cliff Richard OBE (born Harry Rodger Webb on 14 October 1940) is an English singer.

With his backing group The Shadows, he dominated the British popular music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before and during the The Beatles’ first year in the charts. 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 in Britain (in spite of several chart hits there), Cliff 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.