Harry Webb from Lucknow became Cliff Richard, Britain's answer to Elvis
Britain's first homegrown rock and roll record, according to John Lennon, was sung by a teenager born in India as Harry Webb. A manager wanted a punchier name, so Cliff was chosen to suggest rock, and Richard honoured Little Richard. Over six decades later, only the Beatles and Elvis have sold more UK singles.
He was born on 14 October 1940 in Lucknow, then in British India, where his father managed catering for the railways. After independence in 1948 the family sailed to England and swapped relative comfort for a semi-detached house in Surrey, then a council house in Cheshunt. Harry left school with an O level in English literature and worked as a filing clerk. At 16 his father bought him a guitar, and he moved from skiffle to fronting a rock group called the Drifters.
His debut record was meant to be a cover, with his band's own Move It as the B-side, written by guitarist Ian Samwell on a Green Line bus. Television producer Jack Good wanted Move It for his show, and the flip reached number two in 1958. Early on he was sold as a British Elvis, with the sneer and the hairstyle, but his first chart-topper, Living Doll, introduced a gentler sound. His backing group, renamed the Shadows to avoid confusion with the American Drifters, became stars in their own right, and together they dominated British pop until the Beatles arrived.
Films such as The Young Ones and Summer Holiday cemented his fame, and a deepening Christian faith later steered him toward mellower, middle-of-the-road music. America largely resisted, despite hits like Devil Woman and We Don't Talk Anymore, but Britain never let go. He has scored 14 UK number ones, including Christmas chart-toppers Mistletoe and Wine and Saviour's Day, and is the only singer with a number one in five consecutive decades.
More than 130 of his releases have reached the UK Top 20, a record, and by the late 1990s his worldwide sales exceeded 250 million. A block of retirement flats in Cheshunt now bears his name.
Source: Cliff Richard
