Artist News Releases

Cliff Richard hopes for “revival” with new album

By | Published on Wednesday 29 August 2018

Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard has announced that he will release his first album of original material for fourteen years this November, titled ‘Rise Up’. The singer said at a press conference at Abbey Road Studios this morning that the album was a reaction to the “bad period” he has been through in recent years.

The star, of course, recently won a court case against the BBC over its coverage of a police raid on his Berkshire home in 2014. Police were investigating accusations of historical sexual abuse, for which Richard was never charged. A court ruled last month that his privacy had been infringed and ordered the broadcaster to pay damages.

Richard says that he hopes the new album will revive his career, now that the court case is over. Its first single and title track was, somewhat ironically, premiered on BBC Radio 2 this morning. Written by ‘Devil Woman’ co-writer Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, the song sees Richard sing about redemption in the face of adversity.

“I chose ‘Rise Up’ as the title track because, after the bad period I went through in my life, I’ve managed to rise up out of what seemed like a quagmire”, he said, according to the BBC. “I love the lyric ‘They’re never gonna break me down, they’re never gonna take me down, they know I’m gonna rise up feeling stronger’. It is always great to sing lyrics you can feel and I really felt those words”.

He added, reports The Guardian, that he hoped new audiences might be open to his music, saying: “It has been put to me that a new audience might give me a ‘listen to’, and that is an exciting thought, and if they do and don’t like it they can buy something else. Give me a chance, that is all we can ask. My longevity should be considered a plus, not a drawback”.

Set for release on 23 Nov, ‘Rise Up’ the album also features a duet with Oliver Newton-John, as well as reworked versions of some of his classic songs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.



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