Olivia was my soulmate
20s
Olivia was my soulmate, her death was such a terrible shock
As he releases a new album of Christmas classics, Cliff Richard reveals he’s still reeling from the deaths of the Queen and his dear friend Olivia Newton-John
By David Wigg
Turkey and tinsel, crackers and candles, and yes, even a bit of mistletoe and wine – Christmas is always traditional for Sir Cliff Richard, even when he’s celebrating it in the blazing sunshine at his sprawling home in Barbados. He likes to fill the house with Christmas music (and not just his own – his favourite album is Phil Spector’s Christmas songs), go to town with the decorations, and all his guests muck in with the cooking.
If I’m in Barbados for Christmas, whoever’s staying with me gets involved and we all prepare the meal together,
he says. We all have our own skills or dishes, so we choose what to cook including a turkey, of course, and we all get on with it with a glass of something sparkling to help us along. I serve my own Vida Nova wine from Portugal with dinner, and afterwards we might have a swim in the pool and watch the beautiful sunset from the terrace. It's a very special place.
But the first Christmas I had here was very strange. It was a really hot one, and when I was decorating the tree I had to stop to take a shower three times. I was so sweaty! So it was a bit weird for me at first, but it’s very nice to be warm in the wintertime. The locals love to decorate their homes too, so you drive around and Christmas is all around you.
It’s no surprise then that recording Christmas With Cliff – his first dedicated Christmas album in 19 years – in the Sunshine State of Florida earlier this year didn’t throw him one bit. Somebody asked me if we needed the studio decorating, but I didn’t need any decorations,
he laughs. The songs tell you what to do. The minute I started singing Jingle Bell Rock I knew what I was doing – I was rocking around the studio jingle belling!
We were at the best studio, Criteria, where the Bee Gees recorded Stayin’ Alive and many other fabulous songs. When I discovered that, I thought, I’m going to use that studio, because they always sounded so good. I felt very comfortable there – even though it was 90° outside it was pretty cool inside.
I’ve never lost the love of recording, ever since I recorded Move It in Studio 2 at Abbey Road in 1958. There’s this magical thing where you suddenly hear your voice booming out at you, and you can’t believe it’s you. If I could go into the studio every day I would.
The album is a collection of Christmas classics such as When A Child Is Born and It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, along with three new festive songs, First Christmas, Six Days After Christmas (Happy New Year) and Heart Of Christmas. Cliff, 82, has already had four big Christmas hits – including three that were No 1s on the big day, I Love You in 1960, Mistletoe and Wine in 1988 and Saviour’s Day in 1990 – during his 64 year career. He’s also the only artist to have had a Top 5 album in eight consecutive decades. And with his loyal fans already ordering the new album in advance he’s hoping this one will top the charts too.
If it goes to No 1 I’d be absolutely thrilled at my time of life,
he laughs. But it doesn’t matter. Competition’s good. It’s different today though, because for some inexplicable reason people like myself and others of a certain age, we don’t get the opportunity to compete with young people because our records aren’t played on the radio so much. So I’m hoping I might get some help from radio this Christmas and the youngsters will have to compete with us.
But like I say, it doesn’t really matter to me because I’ve been blessed with a very successful career. When I started out they gave me five years! But you make new records and slowly over the years they filter through to a lot of people. If I can keep doing that, it’ll be wonderful.
As well as the new album, in December Cliff will be hosting his own BBC festive special, Cliff At Christmas, ahead of a UK tour next year. In the TV special, his first in nearly 50 years, he’ll be performing some of his favourite festive songs with special guests at the beautifully restored St John-at-hackney church, as well as chatting about his life to Sara Cox. It’s a very special venue and it will feel very Christmassy,
he says. I’ll be singing three tracks from my new album, and a few oldies but goodies too. It will be great to be performing with my band, and there’ll be strings as well – oh how I love strings!
Collaborating with the BBC marks a turning point for Cliff, who received an apology from the corporation and £2m towards his legal costs after he sued them for broadcasting a police raid on his home live in 2014. Cliff insists a line has been drawn under the whole sorry saga, and he just wants to move on.
Given that he was the first pop star to be knighted by the Queen back in 1995 and has performed at all her Jubilee events, Cliff was shocked to learn of Her Majesty’s death in September. I thought she would go on like her mother who lived to 101,
he says. I felt very proud to be part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, but after we’d performed on The Mall and returned to the Palace we were warned the Queen wasn’t feeling too good and she may not come out onto the balcony.
They put up a big screen just in case she was able to, and do you know what? Grown men and women had tears in their eyes when we suddenly saw her come out in that lovely outfit. I thought she was really putting herself out and it was very touching. So I was a bit surprised that not long afterwards she passed away. But I suppose it was inevitable.
Cliff was on a cruise between Budapest and Nuremberg when the news broke, and that’s where he watched the funeral. There was a TV in my room and eight of us watched the funeral together. I suddenly thought, We Brits are the only ones who can do something like this. Despite the sadness, the whole thing had dignity, the way it was staged and the choreography. It was absolutely magical.
The most touching thing for me was the two-minute silence in the middle of the Westminster service. They had cameras around the country showing thousands of people respectfully bowing their heads. Nobody spoke. I had tears in my eyes at that moment.
He’s also met Charles several times, and says he’s looking forward to the first Christmas message from the new King. In showbusiness we have a saying, "That’s a hard act to follow,” but I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be a good king. I wish him all the best, and hope he can do what his mother did and bring heart to us all.
Another huge sadness for Cliff this year was the death from breast cancer of his close friend Olivia Newton-John at 73 in August. I wasn’t so shocked when the Queen died because of her age, but I was shocked when Olivia died,
he says. She’d been fighting cancer for more than 30 years. She was determined to beat it and we, her friends, all thought she had. I spoke to her five weeks before she died and she sounded just like her usual upbeat self: “Oh, g’day Cliff, how are you darling?”.
Friends would always ask me how she was, and I’d tell them she sounds really good, that she was never going to give in to this thing. We all prayed that we’d have her for at least another ten years, and hopefully more if she could finally beat it.
Then five weeks later I got the news of her passing and I was just so shocked. The TV companies and press wanted me to say something but I said, “I can’t look at a camera and talk about Olivia now. I’m too upset.” It really was heartbreaking – a real shake-up for me.
I can speak about her now, months later, but even now her death still affects me. It seemed so unfair. It was a terrible, terrible shock because occasionally in life you have a soul-mate friendship. We talked to each other a lot and we spent a lot of time together.
Cliff 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. She had a hit record, If Not For You, and she performed it on the show. I loved her, the camera loved her, the cameramen all loved her, the audience loved her.
She was only going to be on the show for one week but she stayed for eight because everyone loved her. I’d joke, “I can’t get rid of this woman!” So we were locked together, and it never changed. Even now I feel sad, knowing that this glorious, gifted person was ripped away from us.
The other special woman in his life was tennis star and TV presenter Sue Barker. They first met when Cliff invited her to a Shadows concert in 1981 and it was soon clear it was a love match. At the time many thought Cliff’s Bachelor Boy days might be numbered as the romance blossomed, but Sue found the press attention they attracted hard to cope with. Cliff eventually decided he wasn’t ready for marriage and that his career would have to come first.
They remained friends, but in her recent autobiography Calling The Shots, Sue urged Cliff not to keep talking about the time they had together as it was 40 years ago. I haven’t read the book entirely,
he says, but I loved her then and I still love her. Very early on when I was asked questions and I would say, “Yes, we dated” and all that, she did ask me not to talk about her, so I stopped. So I’m not going to talk about her now.
But I had to point out to her back then, “You’re a famous woman, I’m a famous guy. Even years later they’re always going to talk about us.” It’s something you have to live with. I thought there was nothing wrong with it. But we’re different people, and I have nothing other than good things to say about Sue. She’s a fantastic woman and she met the right guy at the right time [former detective Lance Tankard]. They’re very happy together and I hope that will go on and on.
He tells me that this year he’s having a change and staying with friends in Florida for Christmas, and I ask what his most memorable Christmas as a child was. Oh, that was when I got my first tricycle,
he says without batting an eyelid. We were living in India at the time so I must have been about six. There was a black-and-white marble floor in the entrance hall and I remember how excited I was winding around on this tricycle, bumping into chairs and things. It was the first Christmas I can remember thinking, “Oh my God, I can’t believe this is true!”
It’s just one of many cherished memories in Cliff’s very colourful life, and I wonder if he has any regrets. If you’d asked me that 30 years ago I would have said yes, but here I am at my age, still having a career, still in the charts, still able to go on tour,
he says. I feel totally fulfilled. There’s nothing missing from my life and if I died tomorrow I would die happy.