In 1948, following Indian independence, the family embarked on a three-week sea voyage to Tilbury, Essex, England aboard the SS Ranchi. The Webbs moved from comparative wealth in India, where they lived in a company-supplied flat at Howrah near Calcutta, to a semi-detached house in Carshalton. Harry Webb attended a local primary school, Stanley Park Juniors, in Carshalton. In 1949, his father obtained employment in the credit control office of Thorn Electrical Industries and the family moved in with other relatives in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, where he attended Kings Road Junior Mixed Infants School, until a three-bedroom council house in Cheshunt was allocated to them in 1950, at 12 Hargreaves Close.

Harry Webb became interested in skiffle. When he was 16, his father bought him a guitar, and in 1957, he formed the school vocal harmony group The Quintones, before singing in the Dick Teague Skiffle Group.

Before their first large-scale appearance, at the Regal Ballroom in Ripley, Derbyshire in 1958, they adopted the name “Cliff Richard and the Drifters”. The four members were Harry Webb (by then going under the stage name “Cliff Richard”), Ian Samwell on guitar, Terry Smart on drums and Norman Mitham on guitar. None of the other three played with the later and better known Shadows, although Samwell wrote songs for Richard’s later career.

Cliff Richard’s 1958 hit “Move It” is widely regarded as the first authentic British rock and roll record, and “laid the foundations” for the Beatles and Merseybeat music. John Lennon said of Richard: “before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music”. In contrast to contemporaries such as Marty Wilde, Billy Fury and Adam Faith, his successful performing and recording career in the UK has extended over six decades.

The Shadows were not a typical backing group. They became contractually separate from Richard, and the group received no royalties for records backing Richard. In 1959, the Shadows (then still the Drifters) landed an EMI recording contract of their own, for independent recordings. That year, they released three singles, two of which featured double-sided vocals and one of which had instrumental A and B sides. They thereafter had several major hits, including five UK No. 1s. The band also continued to appear and record with Richard and wrote many of his hits. On more than one occasion, a Shadows instrumental replaced a Richard song at the top of the British charts.

Richard and the Shadows appeared in six feature films including a debut in the 1959 film Serious Charge but most notably in The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, Wonderful Life, and Finders Keepers. These films created their own genre, known as the “Cliff Richard musical”, and led to Richard being named the No. 1 cinema box office attraction in Britain for both 1962 and 1963, beating that of even James Bond. The title song of The Young Ones became his biggest-selling single in the United Kingdom, selling over one million copies in the UK. The irreverent 1980s TV sitcom The Young Ones took its name from Richard’s 1962 film. In mid-1963, Cliff and the Shadows appeared for a season in Blackpool, where Richard had his portrait modelled by Victor Heyfron.

Richard, and the Shadows in particular, however, never achieved star status in the United States. In 1960 they toured the United States and were well-received, but lacklustre support and distribution from a revolving door of American record labels proved an obstacle to long-term success there despite several chart records by Richard including the aforementioned “It’s All in the Game” on Epic, via a renewed linking of the worldwide Columbia labels after Philips ended its distribution deal with CBS. To the Shadows’ chagrin, “Apache” reached No. 2 in the US through a cover version by Danish guitarist Jorgen Ingmann which was almost unchanged from their worldwide hit. Richard and the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was crucial for the Beatles, but these performances did not help them gain sustained success in North America.

In 1961, EMI records organised Richard’s 21st birthday party at its London headquarters in Manchester Square led by his producer Norrie Paramor. Photographs of the celebrations were incorporated into Richard’s next album “21 Today” in which Tony Meehan joined in despite, then, having very recently left the Shadows to be replaced by Brian Bennett.

Typically, the Shadows closed the first half of the show with a 30-minute set of their own, then backed Richard on his show-closing 45-minute stint as exemplified by the retrospective CD album release of Live at the ABC Kingston 1962. Tony Meehan and Jet Harris left the group in 1961 and 1962 respectively and later had their own chart successes for Decca. The Shadows added bass players Brian Locking (1962–63) and then John Rostill (1963–68) and took on Brian Bennett permanently on drums.

In the early years, particularly on album and EP releases, Richard also recorded ballads backed by the Norrie Paramor Orchestra with Tony Meehan (and later Brian Bennett) as a session drummer. His first such single without the Shadows was When the Girl in Your Arms Is the Girl in Your Heart in 1961, and he continued to release one or two per year, including covers of “It’s All in the Game” in 1963 and “Constantly” in 1964, a revival of a popular Italian hit. In 1965, sessions under the direction of Billy Sherrill in Nashville, Tennessee were particularly successful, yielding “The Minute You’re Gone”, which topped the UK singles chart and “Wind Me Up (Let Me Go)” which made No. 2.

Richard’s father, Rodger Webb, died in 1961, aged 56, and that had a great impact on Richard. He later said: “My father died very young. He missed the best parts of my career. When my father was sick, we became very close.” Richard’s mother, Dorothy, died in October 2007, aged 87, after a decade with Alzheimer’s disease. In a 2006 interview, he spoke about the difficulties he and his sisters had in dealing with their mother’s condition.

Richard is a lifelong bachelor. In a three-page letter written in October 1961 to “his first serious girlfriend”, Australian dancer Delia Wicks, made public in April 2010 after her death from cancer, Richard wrote, “Being a pop singer I have to give up one priceless thing – the right to any lasting relationship with any special girl. I’ve just had to make, probably, one of the biggest decisions I’m ever going to make and I’m hoping that it won’t hurt you too much.” The couple had been dating for 18 months. In the letter he goes on to say, “I couldn’t give up my career, besides the fact that my mother and sisters, since my father’s death, rely on me completely. I have showbiz in my blood now and I would be lost without it.” Richard urged her to “find someone who is free to love you as you deserve to be loved” and who “is able to marry you”.

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. He continued to be popular, and have hits in the charts throughout the 1960s, though not at the level that he had enjoyed before. Nor did doors open to him in the US market; he was not considered part of the British Invasion, and despite four Hot 100 hits (including the top 25 “It’s All in the Game”) between August 1963 and August 1964, the American public had little awareness of him.

Although baptised as an Anglican, Richard did not practice the faith in his early years. In 1964, he became an active Christian and his faith has become an important aspect of his life. Standing up publicly as a Christian affected his career in several ways. Initially, he believed that he should quit rock ‘n’ roll, feeling he could no longer be the rocker who had been called a “crude exhibitionist” and “too sexy for TV”. Richard intended at first to “reform his ways” and become a teacher, but Christian friends advised him not to abandon his career just because he had become an active Christian. Soon after, Richard re-emerged, performing with Christian groups and recording some Christian material. He still recorded secular songs with the Shadows, but devoted a lot of his time to Christian work, including appearances with the Billy Graham crusades. As time progressed, Richard balanced his faith and work, enabling him to remain one of the most popular singers in Britain as well as one of its best-known Christians.

Richard’s 1965 UK No. 12 hit “On My Word” ended a run of 23 consecutive top ten UK hits between “A Voice in the Wilderness” in 1960 to “The Minute You’re Gone” in 1965, which, to date, is still a record number of consecutive top ten UK hits for a male artist. Richard continued having international hits, including 1967’s “The Day I Met Marie”, which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 in the Australian charts.

Since March 1966, Richard has followed the practice of giving away at least a tenth of his income to charity. Richard has stated that two biblical principles have guided him in how to use his money. He said: “Firstly, it was the love of money (not money itself) that was the root of all evil. Secondly, to be good and responsible stewards of what was entrusted to us.” In 1990, Richard said: “Those of us who have something to offer have to be prepared to give all the time.”

Richard acted in the 1967 film Two a Penny, released by Billy Graham’s World Wide Pictures, in which he played Jamie Hopkins, a young man who gets involved in drug dealing while questioning his life after his girlfriend changes her attitude. He released the live album Cliff in Japan in 1967.

In 1968, he sang the UK’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, “Congratulations”, written and composed by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter; it lost, however, by one point to Spain’s “La La La”. According to John Kennedy O’Connor’s The Eurovision Song Contest—The Official History, this was the closest result yet in the contest and Richard locked himself in the toilet to avoid the nerves of the voting. In May 2008, a Reuters news report claimed that voting in the competition had been fixed by the Spanish dictator leader, Francisco Franco, to ensure that the Spanish entry won, allowing them to host the contest the following year (1969). It is claimed that Spanish TVE television executives offered to buy programmes in exchange for votes. The story was widely covered and featured on UK’s Channel 4 News as a main story on 7 May 2008, with Jon Snow interviewing author and historian John Kennedy O’Connor about the matter. Eurovision later ended voting by national juries in a bid to eradicate such alleged scams. Nevertheless, “Congratulations” was a huge hit throughout Europe and Australia, and yet another No. 1 in April 1968.

After the Shadows split in 1968, Richard continued to record.

During the 1970s, Richard took part in several television shows and fronted his own show It’s Cliff Richard from 1970 to 1976. It starred Olivia Newton-John, Hank Marvin and Una Stubbs, and included A Song for Europe. He began 1970 by appearing live on the BBC’s review of the sixties music scene, Pop Go The Sixties, which was broadcast across Britain and Europe on 31 December 1969. He performed “Bachelor Boy” with the Shadows and “Congratulations” solo. In 1972, he made a short BBC television comedy film called The Case with appearances from comedians and his first ever duets with a woman—Newton-John. He went on to release a double live album, Cliff Live in Japan 1972, which featured Newton-John.

In 1971, Richard was a leading supporter of the Nationwide Festival of Light, a movement formed by British Christians who were concerned about the development of the permissive society. Richard joined public figures such as Malcolm Muggeridge, Mary Whitehouse and Bishop Trevor Huddleston to demonstrate in London “for love and family life, against pornography and moral pollution”. Muggeridge criticised the media as being “largely in the hands of those who for one reason or another favour the present Gadarene slide into decadence and Godlessness.”

His final acting role on the silver screen to date was in 1973, when he starred in the film Take Me High.

In 1973, he sang the British Eurovision entry “Power to All Our Friends;” the song finished third, close behind Luxembourg’s “Tu Te Reconnaîtras” and Spain’s “Eres Tú.” This time, Richard took Valium to overcome his nerves and his manager was almost unable to wake him for the performance. Richard also hosted the BBC’s qualifying heat for the Eurovision Song Contest, A Song for Europe, in 1970, 1971 and 1972 as part of his BBCTV variety series. He presented the Eurovision Song Contest Previews for the BBC in 1971 and 1972.

In 1975, he released the single “Honky Tonk Angel,” produced by Hank Marvin and John Farrar, oblivious to its connotations or hidden meanings. As soon as he was notified that a “honky-tonk angel” was southern US slang for a prostitute, the horrified Richard ordered EMI to withdraw it and refused to promote it despite making a video for it. EMI agreed to his demand despite the fact the single was expected to sell well. About 1,000 copies are known to exist on vinyl.

In 1976, the decision was made to repackage Richard as a “rock” artist. That year, Bruce Welch relaunched Cliff’s career and produced the landmark album I’m Nearly Famous, which included the successful but controversial guitar-driven track “Devil Woman”, which became Richard’s first true hit in the United States, and the ballad “Miss You Nights”. In reviewing the new album in Melody Maker, Geoff Brown heralded it the renaissance of Richard. Richard’s fans were excited about this revival of a performer 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 their boyhood idol was getting back into the heavier rock, in which he had begun his career.

Notwithstanding this, Richard continued to release albums with contemporary Christian music content in parallel with his rock and pop albums, for example: Small Corners from 1978 contained the single “Yes He Lives”. On 31 December 1976, he performed his latest single, “Hey, Mr. Dream Maker”, on BBC1’s A Jubilee of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II’s impending Silver Jubilee.

With Richard’s succession of hit songs and albums from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, followed by another strong run in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a strong fan base had been reestablished and Richard remained one of the best-known music artists in the country. Over the decade of the 1980s he recorded with Olivia Newton-John, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Phil Everly, Janet Jackson, Sheila Walsh and Van Morrison. Meanwhile, the Shadows later re-formed (and again split). They recorded on their own, but also reunited with Richard in 1978, 1984 and 1989–90.

In 1979, Richard teamed up once again with producer Bruce Welch for the pop hit single “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, written and composed by Alan Tarney, which hit No. 1 in the UK and No. 7 in the US. Bryan Ferry added hummed backing vocals to the song. The record made Richard the first act to reach the Hot 100’s top 40 in the 1980s who had also been there in each of the three previous decades. The song was quickly added onto the end of his latest album Rock ‘n’ Roll Juvenile, which was re-titled We Don’t Talk Anymore for its release in the United States. It was his first time at the top of the UK singles chart in over ten years, and the song would become his biggest-selling single worldwide, selling almost five million copies throughout the world. Later in 1979, Richard performed with Kate Bush at the London Symphony Orchestra’s 75th anniversary celebration at the Royal Albert Hall.

With “We Don’t Talk Anymore” in 1979, Richard finally began to receive some extended success in the United States to follow on from the success of “Devil Woman” in 1976. In 1980, “Carrie” broke into the US top 40, followed by “Dreamin'”, which reached No. 10. His 1980 duet “Suddenly” with Olivia Newton-John, from the film Xanadu, peaked at No. 20, followed by “A Little in Love” (No. 17) and “Daddy’s Home” (No. 23) in 1981. After many years of limited success in the US, three of his singles simultaneously charted on the last Hot 100 of 1980 (“A Little in Love”, “Dreamin'”, and “Suddenly”). The videos for “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, “A Little in Love”, and “Dreamin'” were among the first to be played by MTV upon its launch in 1981.

In 1980, Richard officially changed his name, by deed poll, from Harry Rodger Webb to Cliff Richard. At the same time, he received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire from the Queen for services to music and charity.

In 1981, the single “Wired for Sound” hit No. 4 in the UK and also became Richard’s biggest hit in Australia since the early 1960s. To finish the year, “Daddy’s Home” hit No. 2 in the UK. On the singles chart, Richard was having his most consistent period of top twenty hits since the mid-1960s. He also was amassing a string of top ten albums, including I’m No Hero, Wired for Sound, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, a live album he recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra titled Dressed for the Occasion, and Silver, marking his 25th year in show business in 1983.

Richard first met Barker in 1982, when she was aged 25. Their romance attracted considerable media attention after Richard flew to Denmark to watch her play in a tennis match and they were later photographed cuddling and holding hands at Wimbledon. In an interview in February 1983, Richard spoke of the possibility of marriage with her. He said: “I’m seeing Sue, the only girl I want to see at the moment and if marriage comes on the horizon, I shall relish it.” In September 1983, Richard said that he had no immediate plans to marry Barker. He said: “It’s not vital to get married and it’s not vital to be a father. But I would like to settle down and have a family one day.” In July 1984, Barker said of her romance with Richard: “I love him, he’s great and I’m sure we love each other.”

Although he has never married, Richard has rarely lived alone. For many years he shared his main home with his charity and promotion schedules manager, Bill Latham, and Latham’s mother. In 1982, Richard described them as his “second family”. Latham’s girlfriend, Jill, also lived at the house in Weybridge, Surrey, with them for a time. In 1993, Bill Latham said of Richard’s bachelor status: “His freedom has meant that he has been able to do much more than if he had a family. He always goes the extra mile. If he was to have a relationship, he would give it everything. So because his commitments have been his career, his faith, and more latterly, tennis, he has given himself wholeheartedly to those three activities.”

In 1986, Richard reached No. 1 by teaming 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 dialogue between Richard and the Young Ones. That same year Richard opened in the West End as a rock musician called upon to defend Earth in a trial set in the Andromeda Galaxy in the multi-media Dave Clark musical Time. Three Richard singles, “She’s So Beautiful”, which reached No. 17 in the UK, “It’s in Every One of Us” and “Born To Rock ‘n Roll”, were released over 1985 and 1986 from the concept album recorded for Time.

In August 1986, Richard was involved in a five-car crash in torrential rain on the M4 motorway in West London. Richard’s car was a write-off as another car swerved and braked hard. Richard hurt his back in the accident but was not seriously injured. Police called for a cab from the accident scene so that he was able to perform that night in the “Time” musical. After the show, Richard said: “I’m lucky to be here”. He said that his seatbelt had prevented him from flying through the windscreen.

In October 1986, “All I Ask of You”, a duet that Richard recorded with Sarah Brightman from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version of The Phantom of the Opera reached No. 3 in the UK singles chart. 1987 saw the release of his Always Guaranteed album, which became his best-selling album of all-new material, and included the two top-10 hit singles “My Pretty One” and “Some People”.

In 1986, after Richard’s romance with Barker had ended and she began dating tennis player Stephen Shaw, Richard said that he was still a friend of Barker. He said: “We have a mutual respect for each other and that means a lot to me.”

Richard often declines discussion about close relationships and when asked about suggestions that he may be homosexual has stated categorically that he is not. When the suggestions were first put to him in the late 1970s, Richard responded by saying: “It’s untrue. People are very unfair with their criticism and their judgements. I’ve had girlfriends. But people seem to think that if a bloke doesn’t sleep around he must be gay. Marriage is a very special thing to me. I’m certainly not going to do it just to make other people feel satisfied.” In 1986, Richard said that rumours about him being homosexual had previously been “very painful” to him.

Richard concluded his thirtieth year in music by achieving a UK Christmas No. 1 single in 1988 with “Mistletoe and Wine”, while simultaneously holding the No. 1 positions on the album and video charts with the compilation Private Collection, which summed up his biggest hits from 1979 to 1988. “Mistletoe and Wine” was Richard’s 99th UK single and spent four weeks at the top of the chart. It was the best-selling UK single of 1988, shifting 750,000 copies. The album was certified quadruple platinum, becoming Richard’s first to be certified multi-platinum by the BPI since it introduced multi-platinum awards in February 1987.

In 1988, Richard’s nephew Philip Harrison spent the first four months of his life in a children’s hospital suffering from serious breathing problems. Richard later helped to raise money for the hospital in east London and said that his nephew “had a terrible time but the hospital saved his life.”

In May 1989, Richard released his 100th single, “The Best of Me”, becoming the first British artist to achieve the feat. The single peaked at No. 2 in the UK. It was also the lead single from the UK top ten album Stronger. Released along with the singles “I Just Don’t Have the Heart” (UK No. 3), “Lean On You” (No. 17) and “Stronger Than That” (No. 14), the album become Richard’s first studio album to amass four UK top twenty hits.

Also in 1989, Richard received the Brits highest award: “The Outstanding Contribution award”. In June, he filled London’s Wembley Stadium for two nights with a spectacular titled “The Event” in front of a combined audience of 144,000 people.

On 30 June 1990, Richard performed to an estimated 120,000 people at England’s Knebworth Park as part of an all-star concert line-up that also included Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Elton John and Tears for Fears. The concert in aid of charity was televised around the world and helped to raise $10.5 million for disabled children and young musicians.

Later in 1990, a live album titled From a Distance: The Event was released. It compiled highlights of the previous year’s “The Event” show, and provided two live tracks as singles, “Silhouettes” (UK No. 10) and “From a Distance” (No. 11). However, it was with the Christmas single “Saviour’s Day” that Richard scored his 13th UK No. 1 single and his 100th top 40 hit. The album itself reached No. 3 over the Christmas period and was certified double platinum by the BPI.

Following the success of the recent Christmas singles, Richard released his first Christmas album Together with Cliff Richard in 1991, but his bid for the UK Christmas No. 1 spot again with “We Should Be Together” was unsuccessful (making No. 10). 1992 saw “I Still Believe in You” (No. 7) released as his Christmas single, while 1993 saw Richard’s first new music studio album for over three years released. Simply titled The Album, it debuted at No.1 on the UK album chart. “Peace in Our Time” (No. 8) was the second lead single, followed by “Human Work of Art” (No. 24) and “Healing Love” (No. 19) for Christmas. In 1994, the compilation The Hit List was released, meanwhile in the background, Richard was concentrating on bringing the musical Heathcliff to the stage.

Richard has also supported numerous UK charities over many years through the Cliff Richard Charitable Trust, both through donations and by making personal visits to schools, churches, hospitals and homes for special needs children. Richard’s passion for tennis, which was encouraged by his former girlfriend Sue Barker, also led him in 1991 to establish the Cliff Richard Tennis Foundation. The charity has encouraged thousands of primary schools in the UK to introduce the sport, with over 200,000 children taking part in the tennis sessions which tour the country. The Foundation has since become part of the charitable wing of the Lawn Tennis Association.

When asked in 1992 if he had ever considered the possibility that he might be gay, he responded: “No.” Richard said: “Even if I got married tomorrow there would be a group of people who would believe what they wanted to believe. All that counts is what your family and friends know and they all trust and respect me. What the people outside think, I have no control over.” Later in 1996, Richard said: “I’m aware of the rumours, but I am not gay.” In 1997, he said: “People who are single shouldn’t have to be second-class citizens – we needn’t be embarrassed or feel guilty about it, we all have a role to play.”

On 17 June 1995, Richard was appointed a Knight Bachelor (invested on 25 October 1995), becoming the first rock star to be so honoured.

In 1996, he led the Wimbledon Centre Court crowd in singing during a rain delay when asked by Wimbledon officials to entertain the crowd.

In late 1990s, Richard and former EMI UK managing director Clive Black established the record label “Blacknight”. In 1998, Richard demonstrated that radio stations were refusing to play his music when he released a dance remix of his forthcoming single “Can’t Keep This Feeling In” on a white label using the alias Blacknight. The single was featured on playlists until the true artist was revealed. Richard then released the single under his own name as the lead single for his album Real as I Wanna Be, with each reaching No. 10 in the UK on their respective charts.

In 1998, Chris Evans, the then breakfast show host on Virgin Radio, vowed he would never again play a record by Richard, stating that he was “too old”. In June 2004, British disc jockey Tony Blackburn was suspended from his radio job at Classic Gold Digital for playing records by Richard against station policy. The head of programmes, Paul Baker, sent an e-mail to Blackburn stating that Richard “doesn’t match our brand values. He’s not on the playlist, and you must stop playing him.” On Blackburn’s next morning breakfast show, he read a print-out of the e-mail live on air to the show’s 400,000 listeners and went on to play two songs by Richard. Classic Gold managing director John Baish later confirmed Blackburn’s suspension from the show.

In 1999, controversy again arose regarding radio stations refusing to play his releases when EMI, Richard’s label since 1958, refused to release his song, “The Millennium Prayer”, having judged that the song did not have commercial potential. Richard took it to an independent label, Papillon, which released the charity recording (in aid of Children’s Promise). The single went on to top the UK chart for three weeks, becoming his fourteenth No.1 single.

Richard said that his faith in God was tested in 1999 after the murder of his close friend, the British television presenter Jill Dando. He said: “I was really angry with God. It shook me rigid that someone as beautiful, talented and harmless could have been killed.” Richard said that Dando had many likeable qualities and described her as “a very genuine person”. He said of Dando’s murder: “It is very difficult to understand and I find it all very confusing.” He attended her funeral in May 1999 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Richard’s next album, in 2001, was a covers project, Wanted, followed by another top ten album, Cliff at Christmas. The holiday album contained both new and older recordings, including the single “Santa’s List”, which reached No. 5 in 2003.

Richard has spoken of his friendship with John McElynn, an American former missionary whom he met in 2001 on a visit to New York City. In 2008, Richard said: “John now spends most of his time looking after my properties, which means I don’t have to. John and I have over time struck up a close friendship. He has also become a companion, which is great because I don’t like living alone, even now.”

In an interview with David Frost in 2002, Richard said that his many good friends have prevented him from feeling lonely and he has always got someone he can talk to. Richard has been a family friend of the Northern Irish broadcaster Gloria Hunniford for over 40 years. When Hunniford’s daughter Caron Keating was diagnosed with breast cancer and chose to keep her illness private from the public, Richard was among a small close circle of friends who knew of Keating’s condition. When Keating died in April 2004, Richard attended her funeral in Kent and performed his song “Miss You Nights” in tribute to her.

Richard went to Nashville, Tennessee for his next album project in 2004, employing a writers’ conclave to give him the pick of all new songs for the album Something’s Goin’ On. It was another top-10 album, and produced three UK top-20 singles: “Something’s Goin’ On”, “I Cannot Give You My Love”, with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, and “What Car”.

On 14 June 2004, Richard joined the Shadows on-stage at the London Palladium. The Shadows had decided to re-form for another tour of the UK. It was not to be their last tour together though, as they would re-form once again for a final tour five years later in 2009.

Two’s Company, an album of duets released in 2006, was another top-10 success for Richard and included newly recorded material with Brian May, Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, Barry Gibb and Daniel O’Donnell, plus some previously recorded duets with artists such as Phil Everly, Elton John and Olivia Newton-John. Two’s Company was released to coincide with the UK leg of his latest world tour, “Here and Now”, which included lesser known songs such as “My Kinda Life”, “How Did She Get Here”, “Hey Mr. Dream Maker”, “For Life”, “A Matter of Moments”, “When The Girl in Your Arms” and the Christmas single “21st Century Christmas”, which debuted at No. 2 on the UK singles chart.

In 2006, Richard received a Portuguese Order in which he was appointed Commander of the Order of Prince Henry (ComIH), this in recognition of his 40 years of personal and business involvement in that country. Richard finished No. 56 in the 2002 100 Greatest Britons list, sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public.

Another compilation album, Love… The Album was released on 12 November 2007. Like Two’s Company before it, this album includes both previously released material and newly recorded songs, namely “Waiting for a Girl Like You”, “When You Say Nothing at All”, “All Out of Love”, “If You’re Not the One” and “When I Need You” (the last was released as a single, reaching No. 38; the album peaked at No. 13).

Richard has openly complained about the lack of commercial support he receives from radio stations and record labels. He spoke about this on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on ITV in December 2007, pointing out that while new bands needed airplay for promotion and sales, long-established artists such as himself also relied upon airplay for the same reasons. He also noted that 1980s radio stations did play his records and that this went some way to help sales and maintain his media presence. In the BBC Radio 2 documentary Cliff – Take Another Look, he pointed out that many documentaries charting the history of British music (e.g. I’m in a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band!) fail to mention him (or the Shadows).

2008, Richard’s 51st year in the music business saw the release of the eight-CD box set And They Said It Wouldn’t Last (My 50 Years in Music). In September, a single celebrating his 50 years in pop music, titled “Thank You for a Lifetime” was released. On 14 September 2008 it reached No. 3 on the UK music charts.

On 11 November 2008, Richard’s official website announced that Cliff and the Shadows would reunite to celebrate their 50th anniversary in the music business. A month later they performed at the Royal Variety Performance. In 2009, Cliff and the Shadows brought their partnership to an end with the “Golden Anniversary concert tour of the UK”.

Richard was involved in a campaign to extend copyright on sound recordings in the UK from 50 to 95 years, and extend the number of years on which a musician can receive royalties. The campaign was initially unsuccessful and the UK copyright on many of Richard’s early recordings expired in 2008. In 2013, following another campaign, copyright on sound recordings was extended to 70 years after first publication to the public for works still in copyright at that point. This means Richard’s recordings between 1958 and 1962 are out of copyright in the UK, but those from 1963 will be in copyright until 2034.

In the 1980s, Richard considered asking Sue Barker, a former French Open tennis champion and Wimbledon semi-finalist, if she would agree to marry him. In 2008, Richard said of his relationship with Barker: “I seriously contemplated asking her to marry me, but in the end I realised that I didn’t love her quite enough to commit the rest of my life to her.”

In his 2008 autobiography, Richard wrote that his views on certain issues are less judgemental than when he was younger. He called on the Church of England to affirm people’s commitment in same-sex marriage. He wrote: “In the end, I believe, people are going to be judged for what they are. It seems to me that commitment is the issue, and if anyone comes to me and says: ‘This is my partner – we are committed to each other,’ then I don’t care what their sexuality is. I’m not going to judge – I’ll leave that to God.”

A new album, titled Reunited, by Richard and the Shadows was released in September 2009. It was their first studio project in forty years. The 28 tracks recorded comprise 25 re-recordings of their earlier work, with three “new” tracks, originally from that era (and earlier), the single “Singing the Blues”, along with Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” and the Frankie Ford hit “Sea Cruise”. The album charted at No. 6 in the UK charts in its opening week and peaked at No. 4. The reunion tour continued into Europe in 2010. In June 2009, it was reported by Sound Kitchen Studios in Nashville that Richard was to return there shortly to record a new album of original recordings of jazz songs. He was to record fourteen tracks in a week.

Richard has spoken of his irritation about other stars who are praised after taking drugs. In 2009, Richard said he was the “most radical rock-and-roll singer Britain has ever seen” as he did not indulge in drugs or sexual promiscuity. Richard said he is proud that he never adopted the hedonistic lifestyle of a typical rock star. He said: “I’ve never wanted to trash a hotel room.”

In 2009, the British media reported on a growing friendship between Richard and Cilla Black. The Daily Telegraph said that Richard and Black looked at properties together in Miami and were regularly seen together in Barbados, where they both owned villas. Richard and Black reportedly enjoyed each other’s company dining together in Marbella and watching tennis in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. After Black died in August 2015, Richard described her as “incredibly gifted” and “full of heart”. He said: “She was a very special person, and I have lost a very wonderful friend. I will miss her dearly.” Richard performed the song “Faithful One” in tribute to Black at her funeral in Liverpool.

Richard performed “Congratulations” at the 70th birthday celebrations of Queen Margrethe II in Denmark on 13 April 2010.

On 14 October 2010, Richard celebrated his 70th birthday and to mark the occasion, he performed a series of six concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, London. To accompany the concerts, a new album of cover versions of swing standards, Bold as Brass, was released on 11 October. The official party celebrating Richard’s 70th birthday was held on 23 October 2010, with guests including Cilla Black, Elaine Paige and Daniel O’Donnell.

In November 2010, he achieved his third consecutive UK No. 1 music DVD in three years with the DVD release of Bold as Brass.

After Delia Wicks died in 2010, aged 71, her brother Graham Wicks said that she had been “devastated” by Richard’s decision to end their relationship, describing Richard as “a very pleasant man”.

In 2010, Richard confirmed that he is no longer a resident of the United Kingdom and had been granted citizenship by Barbados. He said: “I’m officially a non-resident [of the UK], although I will always be British and proud of it.” He currently divides his time between living in Barbados and Portugal. When asked in February 2013 if he had regrets about not starting a family, Richard said that if he had been married with children he could not have devoted so much time to his career. He said: “My three sisters have children, and it’s been wonderful to watch them grow up, get married and start families of their own. I’ve made sure I’ve always played a part in their lives. So while I think I would have been a good father, I’ve given myself to my family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My ‘freedom’ allows me to continue my career. Had I been married, with children, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now.”

In October 2011, Richard released his Soulicious album, containing duets with American soul singers including Percy Sledge, Ashford and Simpson, Roberta Flack, Freda Payne and Candi Staton. The album was produced by Lamont Dozier and was supported by a short UK arena tour. Soulicious became Richard’s 41st top-10 UK hit album.

In 2011, digital station Absolute Radio ’60s, dedicated to playing popular music from the 1960s, announced they would not be playing any of Richard’s records because they said they did not fit “the cool sound… we’re trying to create”. DJ Pete Mitchell said: “Timeless acts of the decade that remain relevant today are the Beatles, the Stones, the Doors and the Who, not Sir Cliff.” Richard responded to this by saying: “They’re lying to themselves, and more importantly they’re lying to the public.”

In an article for The Guardian in 2011, the journalist Sam Leith wrote of Richard’s lack of commercial support among radio stations: “His uncompromising Christianity, his clean-living ways, and his connoisseurship of the fruits of his Portuguese winery have made him an object of incomprehension, even ridicule, for the uncultured, alcopop-drinking younger generation.” Also writing in The Guardian, John Robb opined that because Richard has rebelled against the drink and drugs culture of typical rock stars, this “rebelling against rebellion” has made Richard something of a countercultural icon.

He was among the performers at the Diamond Jubilee concert held outside Buckingham Palace in June 2012.

On 30 June 2012, Richard helped to carry the Olympic torch from Derby to Birmingham as part of the torch relay for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Richard said that his run with the Olympic torch would be one of his top-10 memories.

In November 2013, Richard released the 100th album of his career, The Fabulous Rock ‘n’ Roll Songbook. To that point Richard had released 47 studio albums, 35 compilations, 11 live albums and 7 film soundtracks.

Richard has criticised the music industry for encouraging artists to court controversy. In November 2013, he said: “The music industry has changed drastically and that damages young artists. This industry can be very destructive.” Richard expressed concern about the sexually explicit public image of singer Miley Cyrus, following controversy surrounding a semi-naked video for her song “Wrecking Ball”. In the 1970s, Richard said that he was disturbed by the visual imagery and mock horror of singer Alice Cooper. In 1997, Richard said of the rock band Oasis: “It’s just a shame that part of what gives them their kick is their self-destructive impulse.”

In December 2013, Richard said that he felt two of his singles, “Mistletoe and Wine” and “The Millennium Prayer”, had created a negative reaction against him. He said: “Airplay is vital for single hits. The only way I can have a fair competition is if your records are on the radio. There is an ageism in the radio industry. If you ask me to record a new song, I’m not sure it would get the support it needs.”

Richard was scheduled to open for Morrissey at a live concert at New York’s 19,000-capacity Barclays Center on 21 June 2014. Morrissey said that he was “honoured and thrilled” to have Richard on the bill. It was reported on 16 June 2014 that Morrissey had cancelled the concert after collapsing with an “acute fever”. Richard announced that he would stage a free show for fans in New York on the same night the cancelled concert was due to take place.

In August 2014 Richard was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September’s referendum on that issue.

In August 2014, in response to a complaint to the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Yewtree (set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal), Richard’s apartment in Berkshire was searched. He was not arrested, and strongly denied the allegations. The BBC was criticised for its coverage of the search. The former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, QC, criticised the police force for its “completely disreputable conduct” and said its action could make the warrant unlawful. Richard pulled out of a visit to the US Open tennis championships, turned down the freedom of his adopted Portuguese home city of Albufeira, and cancelled a scheduled appearance at Canterbury Cathedral because he did not want the event to be “overshadowed by the false allegation”. He subsequently returned to the UK and voluntarily met with and was interviewed by members of South Yorkshire Police. He was never arrested or criminally charged. Subsequently, David Crompton, chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, was criticised for his interactions with the BBC, and publicly apologised to Richard.

In October 2015, Richard performed on tour to mark his 75th birthday. He took to the stage across seven cities in the UK, including six nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he has performed on over 100 occasions during his career. Richard’s 2015 tour received a positive review from The Guardian’s rock music critic Dave Simpson.

In February 2015, South Yorkshire Police announced that the inquiry into the alleged offences had increased, and would be continuing. Richard subsequently released a statement maintaining that the allegations were “absurd and untrue”. The development came a day after an independent report had concluded that South Yorkshire Police had “interfered with the singer’s privacy” by telling the BBC about the August 2014 property search. A review by former chief constable Andy Trotter said South Yorkshire Police had breached police guidance on protecting the identity of those under investigation and the handling of the search had dented the force’s reputation. The BBC’s tip-off regarding the search reportedly came from within Operation Yewtree, although Crompton said he could not be certain that the leak originated from there.

In May 2016, South Yorkshire Police sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service. The following month, the CPS announced that after reviewing “evidence relating to claims of non-recent sexual offences dating between 1958 and 1983 made by four men” there was “insufficient evidence” to charge Richard with an offence, and that no further action against him would be taken. Richard said he was “obviously thrilled that the vile accusations and the resulting investigation have finally been brought to a close”. But he said his naming by the media, despite not being charged, meant he had been “hung out like live bait”. South Yorkshire Police later “apologised wholeheartedly” to Richard after its investigation into the singer was dropped on 16 June 2016. Richard commented: “My reputation will not be fully vindicated because the CPS’s policy is to only say something general about there being ‘insufficient’ evidence. How can there be evidence for something that never took place?” It was subsequently reported that during the 22-month police investigation a man was arrested over a plot to blackmail Richard. The unnamed man in his forties contacted Richard’s aides and threatened to spread “false stories” unless he received a sum of money.

On 21 June 2016, the BBC apologised publicly to Richard for causing distress after the controversial broadcast. On 27 September 2016, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that the decision not to prosecute Richard over claims of historical sex offences had been upheld. The CPS reviewed the evidence following applications by two of his accusers, and concluded that the decision not to charge Richard was correct. In October 2016, it was reported that Richard was suing the BBC and South Yorkshire Police. Legal papers were filed at the High Court in London on 6 October 2016. South Yorkshire Police later agreed to pay Richard £400,000 after settling a claim he brought against the force.

In August 2018 Richard announced the release of the album Rise Up, which includes new material. The first single of the album, “Rise Up”, was released in vinyl format and reached No. 1 on the UK Vinyl Singles Chart in October 2018.

On 12 April 2018, the case against the BBC opened in the High Court. It was reported that Richard was seeking “very substantial” damages. On 13 April, Richard gave evidence for more than an hour, describing the television coverage as “shocking and upsetting”. His written statement was made available online by his lawyers, Simkins LLP. On 18 July 2018, Richard won his High Court case against the BBC and was awarded £210,000 in damages. On 15 August 2018, the BBC stated they would not appeal against the judgment. The BBC repeated an apology for the distress that Richard had been through. The Guardian estimated that the BBC’s costs for legal fees and damages had reached £1.9 million after losing the case.

He performed a duet with Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler on “Taking Control” that appeared on her 2019 studio album, Between the Earth and the Stars.