Sir Cliff Richard has announced the forthcoming release of his first Christmas album in nearly 20 years.
Christmas with Cliff will drop one month before the holiday, on 25 November this year. The album is comprised of 13 tracks, including festive hits such as “Sleigh Ride” and “Jingle Bell Rock”, as well as new songs.
Richard, whose last Christmas album was released in 2003, credited producers Sam Hollander and Chris Walden for “guiding me through the ‘well known’ Christmas songs and freeing me to sing them my way,” in a statement.
He added: “They had differing approaches to the songs that I asked them to produce for me, and they gave this album the dynamics that I had hoped for.”
Ultimately, Richard concluded, the new album is “not just mine... it belongs to all of us involved in creating it”.
“I hope that we add a little something special to your Christmas season,” he said.
Richard’s previous festive hits, including “Mistletoe And Wine”, “Saviour’s Day” and “The Millennium Prayer”, have become Christmas staples over the years. His last Yuletide album, Cliff At Christmas, was released 19 years ago.
Earlier this week, British TV presenter Sue Barker revealed the reason she wishes she’d never “gone near” Richard.
The broadcaster, who had a brief romance with the “Summer Holiday” singer in 1981, has shared her frustrations with Richard for continuing to “harp on about me” 40 years on.
In a new book, an extract of which was shared on MailOnline, Barker, 66, wrote: “If someone had told me that my relationship with Cliff would last a few months but I’d still be hearing about it 40 years later, I wouldn’t have gone near him.”
Barker’s autobiography, titled Calling the Shots, will be published on 29 September.
Additional reporting by Press Association
