1958–1963: Success and stardom
Beginning as a member of a skiffle group, Harry Webb became lead singer of the rock and roll group, the Drifters (not to be confused with the U.S. group of the same name). Before their first large scale appearance, at the Regal Ballroom in Ripley in 1958, they adopted the name "Cliff Richard and the Drifters". The four members were Webb, Ian "Sammy" 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.
In summer 1958 Richard obtained a recording contract with EMI's Columbia label for himself only, leaving the band behind. He remained with EMI until signing with Decca in 2004. Richard recorded his first single on 24 July 1958. However, producer Norrie Paramor had little faith in the band and brought in two session men, Ernie Shear and Frank Clarke, to provide lead guitar and bass.
For his debut session, Paramor provided Richard wi
More about Cliff Richard (From Wikipedia)
1940–1958: Childhood
Cliff Richard was born at the King George Hospital, Victoria Street, Lucknow, British India in 1940 to Roger Oscar, a steward, and Dorothy Marie (born Dazely) Webb. He was christened read more...
1958–1963: Success And Stardom
Beginning as a member of a skiffle group, Harry Webb became lead singer of the rock and roll group, the Drifters (not to be confused with the U.S. group of the same name). Before read more...
1964–1975: Changing Circumstances
As with the other existing rock acts in Britain, Richard's career was affected by the sudden advent of The Beatles and the Mersey sound in 1963 and 1964. However, his popularity read more...
1976–1994: Comeback
In 1976 the decision was made to repackage Cliff Richard as a "rock" artist. That year he produced the landmark album I'm Nearly Famous, which included the successful but controversial read more...
1995: Sir Cliff
Cliff Richard was knighted on 25 October 1995, the first rock star to be so honoured. (Bob Geldof had received his honorary knighthood a full nine years earlier, but as a non-British read more...
"The Most Radical Rock Star Ever"
Cliff Richard openly complains 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 read more...
Entrepreneur
Richard has become joint owner of the Arora International Hotel in Manchester, which opened in June 2004. He also owns property in the Algarve, Portugal, where he is involved in read more...
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE, (born Harry Roger Webb on 14 October 1940) is an English singer, actor and businessman.
With his backing band The Shadows, Richard dominated the British read more...