EMI gears up for the best of times; first Robbie Williams retrospective set to be an early Christmas number one favourite". And Sara Cox takes Cliff back to his musical birthplace, the iconic Abbey Road, to chat to him about his 64-year career, which has seen him become the first artist ever to score a top-five album in eight consecutive decades. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. It was reported this week that Richards was hot on the grime kingpin’s heels with his first Christmas record in 19 years; ultimately, it was a “last minute surge”, according to the Official Charts Company, that clinched Stormzy’s win.

If you are already dreading the sound of festive staples playing on a loop during outings to the high street, then your misery may soon be compounded. Cliff Richard’s second Christmas album, ‘Christmas With Cliff’ brings seasonal goodwill in hopes of uniting the world during troubled times. Christmas With Cliff will see him ‘bringing together an album of classics’ including songs like It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Sleigh Ride, Joy To The World, When A Child Is Born, Jingle Bell Rock and more, and new tracks First Christmas, Six Days After Christmas (Happy New Year), and Heart Of Christmas. The streets are glistening with lights/And hearts are full of hope and love/While children carol Silent Night/Can you hear them? Christmas with Cliff consists of 13 new recordings of Christmas music, including three newly written songs ("First Christmas", "Heart of Christmas", and "Six Days After Christmas (Happy New Year)").More Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. This promotion of the previous year's album was announced two weeks after Richard left the label to join Decca Records.

We understand that not everyone can donate right now, but if you can afford to contribute, we promise it will be put to good use. A relatively small margin of chart units – a metric that encompasses streams and sales – separated the two records, with This Is What I Mean moving 27,800 units compared to Christmas With Cliff’s 24,300. Sir Cliff’s previous festive hits, including Mistletoe And Wine, Saviour’s Day and The Millennium Prayer, have become Christmas staples over the years, with his last Yuletide album, Cliff At Christmas, released 19 years ago in 2003.

In 2018, it was number 3 on the Official Top 20 biggest selling Christmas albums of the 21st century in the UK, having sold 409,000 copies. There's also an exclusive performance of Move It with Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett from The Shadows. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. This album is not just mine, it belongs to all of us involved in creating it, and I hope that we add a little something special to your Christmas season. When re-released in late 2004 it entered the chart at 66 on 11 December, before climbing to 60 the following week and then left the charts for the final time.

Yep, he really was the “British Elvis” back in the day – and the album also includes a sultry Blue Christmas to prove it.

His first Christmas album since the release of Cliff at Christmas 19 years ago in 2003, Cliff is famous for owning Christmas in three decades with the release of No. It was with this album and the single "Santa's List" that he was aiming to achieve another Christmas number one record. Recording the album in the run up to a World Cup, it’s as if Cliff had the vuvuzelas of the best World Cup songs in mind as he drove Sleigh Ride over the finish line.