Cliff Richard has said he is delighted to be competing with Stormzy in the music charts.
During an appearance on This Morning, the singer talked about approaching his 65th year in music and that he is "happy" to be compared to more recent artists.
The 82-year-old praised Stormzy, 29, as "the most popular artist of the decade" as they went head-to-head for this week’s number one album.
Sir Cliff’s first new Christmas album in 19 years, Christmas With Cliff, currently sits just behind This Is What I Mean, the third album from Stormzy, in the midweek charts.
Appearing on ITV's This Morning, he said: "Nothing ever seemed to be possible in the early days. We were written off as one-hit wonders. We lived from day to day.
"When I was told that I had had a top five album in eight consecutive decades, in fact my feet have not touched the ground since, because you can’t plan that.
"Next year is my 65th year and here I am in the charts with the most popular artist of the decade and I am able to still compete. So I am just really happy about it.
"I don’t know Stormzy at all. I was going to say, ‘May the best man win’, but I am not saying it just in case he does win."
Cliff will be back on the road in 2023 as part of his Blue Sapphire Tour.
However, he said he has had to limit the number of dates due to concerns around his voice.
He said: "We are only doing about eight shows, I think. I think the days of me going on tour for six months are way behind me."
Pointing towards his vocal cords, he added: "It is so terrifying to be on tour for lengths of time because you never know what day you are going to wake up and that’s not going to work.
"Doing eight days, I am pretty confident that I will be able to sing right the way through and not let anybody down."
The singer's latest album Christmas With Cliff features 13 Christmas classics as well as new festive songs.
Sir Cliff has achieved UK chart success with his previous festive songs, with Mistletoe And Wine bagging the coveted Christmas number one slot in 1988, and Saviour’s Day taking the title in 1990.
Back in 1960, with backing band The Shadows, the song I Love You was the Christmas number one.
