To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee for The Queen this weekend a number of iconic stars have been welcomed to the enormous stage and set at Buckingham Palace.
Today, the legendary British star Sir Cliff Richard will grace the stage to perform a collection of his own tracks from throughout the years.
And during an interview promoting the upcoming show, he dropped some big news about his next project.
Cliff announced that he is indeed working on a 46th studio album.
This comes as little surprise to Cliff’s dedicated fans who have witnessed him release an album roughly every two years over the past five decades of his career.
He said on Sky News: “I’m still recording, so I’ll be competing with people in the charts.”
He also revealed that the new album will be hitting store shelves and streaming services at the end of the year.
He said: “Yes, I am recording. And I think I can tell you that the album will be out at Christmas.”
The Summer Holiday singer did not reveal any further information about the album’s title or its style, but he was keen to point out that he has still got it.
He said on Sky News that this weekend’s Platinum Jubilee performance was “incredible” – but he was jealous of the stars that were given the chance to play.
The show saw the arrival of some contemporary artists, including Craig David, Hans Zimmer, Mabel, Elbow, Sam Ryder and Diversity – just to name a few.
He said of being left out: “I’d loved to have been invited to sing a note and just to be in that production.”
But he explained how he knew he had to step back.
Cliff said: “The new generation needed to be there. And, hopefully, they’ll be around to sing for [Prince] Charles. And after that, [Prince] William.”
He said that the likes of him, Paul McCartney and Tom Jones have to begin to step down from their roles.
He explained: “For those of us who have done the years… it’s time for us to relinquish our positions to a certain extent. The new blood was good to see there.”
The star last released a record in 2020, titled: Music… The Air That I Breathe.
The album was a great success for Cliff, who released it in the first year of the pandemic.
It reached number three on the British album charts and achieved silver certification.
The record’s success meant he broke a new record in the music industry.
Music… The Air That I Breathe’s release made Cliff the first artist to reach the top five of the UK album chart across eight consecutive decades.
His first hit came with the 1959 album, Cliff, which reached number four on the album charts.
His 2016 album followed a particularly troubling time for the singer.
In 2014 Cliff’s Berkshire apartment was searched by police.
The BBC reported on this at the time, claiming the search was to do with a “sexual nature”.
No charge or arrest was ever filed. And Cliff was not happy about how the Beeb carried out its reporting.
He later said: “After the bad period I went through in my life, I’ve managed to rise up out of what seemed like a quagmire.”
