Editing Cliff Richard (section)

===1976–1994: Renaissance===
In 1976, the decision was made to repackage Richard as a rock artist. That year, Bruce Welch relaunched Cliff's career and produced the landmark album ''[[I'm Nearly Famous]]'', which included the successful but controversial guitar-driven track "[[Devil Woman (Cliff Richard song)|Devil Woman]]", which became Richard's first true hit in the United States, and the ballad "[[Miss You Nights]]". In reviewing the new album in ''[[Melody Maker]]'', Geoff Brown heralded it the renaissance of Richard.<ref>{{cite book|author=Steve Turner|title=Cliff Richard: The Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=He0S6tFOGPUC&pg=PA270|year=2008|publisher=Lion Books|isbn=978-0-7459-5279-6|page=270}}</ref> Richard's fans were excited about this revival of a performer who had been a part of British rock from its early days. Many big names in music such as [[Jimmy Page]], [[Eric Clapton]] and [[Elton John]] were seen sporting ''I'm Nearly Famous'' badges, pleased that their boyhood idol was getting back into the heavier rock in which he had begun his career.

Notwithstanding this, Richard continued to release albums with [[contemporary Christian music]] content in parallel with his rock and pop albums, for example: ''[[Small Corners]]'' from 1978 contained the single "Yes He Lives". On 31 December 1976, he performed his latest single, "Hey, Mr. Dream Maker", on BBC1's ''[[A Jubilee of Music]]'', celebrating British pop music for Queen [[Elizabeth II]]'s impending [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver Jubilee]].

In 1979, Richard teamed up once again with producer [[Bruce Welch]] for the pop hit single "[[We Don't Talk Anymore (Cliff Richard song)|We Don't Talk Anymore]]", written and composed by [[Alan Tarney]], which hit No. 1 in the UK and No. 7 in the US. [[Bryan Ferry]] added hummed backing vocals to the song. The record made Richard the first act to reach the Hot 100's top 40 in the 1980s who had also been there in each of the three previous decades. The song was quickly added onto the end of his latest album ''[[Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile]],'' which was re-titled ''We Don't Talk Anymore'' for its release in the United States. It was his first time at the top of the UK singles chart in over ten years, and the song would become his biggest-selling single worldwide, selling almost five million copies throughout the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0723771/trivia |title=Cliff Richard – Trivia|publisher=IMDb |access-date=7 January 2013}}</ref> Later in 1979, Richard performed with [[Kate Bush]] at the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]'s 75th anniversary celebration at the [[Royal Albert Hall]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Mendelssohn |first=John |title=Waiting For Kate Bush |date=15 November 2004 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i30JTVKbyjcC&q=cliff+richard+albert+hall+kate+bush&pg=PT153|isbn=9780857123237 }}</ref>

With "We Don't Talk Anymore" in 1979, Richard finally began to receive some extended success in the United States to follow on from the success of "Devil Woman" in 1976. In 1980, "[[Carrie (Cliff Richard song)|Carrie]]" broke into the US top 40, followed by "[[Dreamin' (Cliff Richard song)|Dreamin']]", which reached No. 10. His 1980 duet "[[Suddenly (Xanadu song)|Suddenly]]" with Olivia Newton-John, from the film ''[[Xanadu (film)|Xanadu]]'', peaked at No. 20, followed by "[[A Little in Love (Cliff Richard song)|A Little in Love]]" (No. 17) and "[[Daddy's Home (song)|Daddy's Home]]" (No. 23) in 1981. After many years of limited success in the US, three of his singles simultaneously charted on the last [[Hot 100]] of 1980 ("A Little in Love", "Dreamin'", and "Suddenly").<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1980-12-27 |title=The Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |date=27 December 1980 |access-date=1 March 2016}}</ref>

In the UK, meanwhile, "Carrie" reached No. 4 and "Dreamin'" peaked at No. 8. In a retrospective review of "Carrie", [[AllMusic]] journalist Dave Thompson praised "Carrie" as being "an enthrallingly atmospheric number. One of the most electrifying of all Cliff Richard's recordings."<ref>{{cite web|last=Thompson |first=Dave |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/carrie-mt0033082167 |title=Carrie – Cliff Richard : Listen, Appearances, Song Review |work=AllMusic |access-date=16 September 2012}}</ref>

In 1980, Richard officially changed his name, by [[deed poll]], from Harry Rodger Webb to Cliff Richard.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=48318 |date=24 September 1980 |page=13397 }}</ref> At the same time, he received, from the Queen, the award of [[O.B.E.|Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] for services to music and charity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/r/2963/Cliff,+n%C3%A9.aspx |title=Sir Cliff Richard, OBE Authorised Biography |work=Debretts |date=14 October 1940 |access-date=16 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606112054/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/r/2963/Cliff,+n%C3%A9.aspx |archive-date=6 June 2013 }}</ref>

In 1981, the single "[[Wired for Sound (song)|Wired for Sound]]" hit No. 4 in the UK and also became Richard's biggest hit in Australia since the early 1960s. To finish the year, "Daddy's Home" hit No. 2 in the UK. On the singles chart, Richard was having his most consistent period of top twenty hits since the mid-1960s. He also was amassing a string of top ten albums, including ''[[I'm No Hero]]'', ''[[Wired for Sound]]'', ''[[Now You See Me, Now You Don't (album)|Now You See Me, Now You Don't]]'', a live album he recorded with the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] titled ''[[Dressed for the Occasion (Cliff Richard album)|Dressed for the Occasion]]'', and ''[[Silver (Cliff Richard album)|Silver]]'', marking his 25th year in show business in 1983.

In 1986, Richard reached No. 1 by teaming up with the cast of the comedy series [[The Young Ones (TV series)|''The Young Ones'']] to re-record his smash hit "[[Living Doll (song)|Living Doll]]" for the charity [[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]]. Along with the song, the recording contained comedy dialogue between Richard and the Young Ones. That same year, Richard opened in the [[West End theatre|West End]] as a rock musician called upon to defend Earth in a trial set in the Andromeda Galaxy in the [[multi-media]] [[Dave Clark (musician)|Dave Clark]] musical ''[[Time (musical)|Time]]''. Three Richard singles, "She's So Beautiful", which reached No. 17 in the UK, "It's in Every One of Us" and "Born To Rock 'n Roll", were released over 1985 and 1986 from the [[Time (Dave Clark album)|concept album recorded for ''Time'']].

In August 1986, Richard was involved in a five-car crash in torrential rain on the [[M4 motorway]] in West London. Richard's car was a write-off,as another car swerved and braked hard. Richard hurt his back in the accident, but was not seriously injured. Police called for a cab from the accident scene so that he was able to perform that night in the ''Time'' musical. After the show, Richard said: "I'm lucky to be here". He said that his seatbelt had prevented him from flying through the windscreen.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pop Star Performs Despite Car Accident |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19860827&id=Oc9PAAAAIBAJ&pg=1328,6177556 |newspaper=Ocala Star-Banner |date=27 August 1986 |access-date=14 May 2013}}</ref>

In October 1986, "[[All I Ask of You]]", a duet that Richard recorded with [[Sarah Brightman]] from the [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] musical version of [[The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)|The Phantom of the Opera]] reached No. 3 in the UK singles chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/All+I+Ask+Of+You|title=The Official Charts Company – All I Ask of You by Cliff Richard And Sarah Brightman Search|date=6 May 2013|publisher=The Official Charts Company}}</ref> 1987 saw the release of his ''[[Always Guaranteed]]'' album, which became his best-selling album of all-new material, and included the two top-10 hit singles "[[My Pretty One]]" and "[[Some People (Cliff Richard song)|Some People]]".

Richard concluded his thirtieth year in music by achieving a UK Christmas No. 1 single in 1988 with "[[Mistletoe and Wine]]", while simultaneously holding the No. 1 positions on the album and video charts with the compilation ''[[Private Collection: 1979–1988|Private Collection]]'', which collected his biggest hits from 1979 to 1988. "Mistletoe and Wine" was Richard's 99th UK single and spent four weeks at the top of the chart. It was the best-selling UK single of 1988, shifting 750,000 copies.<ref>{{cite news |last=Allen |first=Liam |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7787675.stm |title=The stories of the Christmas hits |work=BBC News |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref> The album was certified quadruple platinum, becoming Richard's first to be certified multi-platinum by the [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]] since it had introduced multi-platinum awards in February 1987.<ref name="UK certification Database">{{cite web|url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/bpi-awards|title=UK certification Database|publisher=[[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]]|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-date=26 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526092810/https://www.bpi.co.uk/bpi-awards/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gold & Platinum Official Award Discs|url=https://eil.com/store/sales-award-discs_Store.asp|publisher=eil.com|access-date=30 March 2018}}</ref>

In May 1989, Richard released his 100th single, "[[The Best of Me (David Foster song)|The Best of Me]]", becoming the first British artist to achieve the feat.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thompson |first=Dave |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/stronger-mw0000470755 |title=Stronger – Cliff Richard : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |work=AllMusic |access-date=16 September 2012}}</ref> The single peaked at No. 2 in the UK. It was also the lead single from the UK top ten album ''[[Stronger (Cliff Richard album)|Stronger]]''. Released along with the singles "[[I Just Don't Have the Heart]]" (UK No. 3), "[[Lean On You]]" (No. 17) and "[[Stronger Than That]]" (No. 14), the album become Richard's first studio album to amass four UK top twenty hits.

Richard received the Brits highest honour, The Outstanding Contribution award", in 1989.<ref name=britaward>{{cite web|url=http://www.brits.co.uk/artist/cliff-richard|title=Brit Awards artist page|publisher=[[Brit Awards]]|access-date=15 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123015242/http://www.brits.co.uk/artist/cliff-richard|archive-date=23 January 2010}}</ref> In June that year, he filled London's [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] for two nights with a spectacular titled The Event in front of a combined audience of 144,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nigelgoodall.co.uk/dvd/cliff-richard-from-a-distance-the-event/ |title=Cliff Richard: From A Distance – The Event |publisher=Nigel Goodall |access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref>

On 30 June 1990, Richard performed to an estimated 120,000 people at England's [[Knebworth Park]] as part of an all-star concert line-up that also included [[Paul McCartney]], [[Phil Collins]], [[Elton John]] and [[Tears for Fears]]. The concert in aid of charity was televised around the world and helped to raise $10.5&nbsp;million for disabled children and young musicians.<ref>{{cite news |title=Star-studded Knebworth concert |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19900815&id=CG1PAAAAIBAJ&pg=3758,4158889 |access-date=24 October 2014 |work=New Straits Times |date=15 August 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=English rock benefit rolls |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19900701&id=TakcAAAAIBAJ&pg=4353,1355116 |access-date=24 October 2014 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=1 July 1990}}</ref>

Later in 1990, a live album titled ''[[From a Distance: The Event]]'' was released. It compiled highlights of the previous year's The Event show, and provided two live tracks as singles, "[[Silhouettes (The Rays song)#Cliff Richard version|Silhouettes]]" (UK No. 10) and "[[From a Distance#Cliff Richard version|From a Distance]]" (No. 11). However, it was with the Christmas single "[[Saviour's Day (song)|Saviour's Day]]" that Richard scored his 13th UK No. 1 single and his 100th top 40 hit.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cousins |first=Andrew |url=http://www.insidetime.org/articleview.asp?a=118&c=the_music_scene_in_1990 |title=The Music Scene in 1990 |work=Inside Time |access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref> The album itself reached No. 3 over the Christmas period and was certified double platinum by the [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]].<ref name="UK certification Database"/>

Following the success of the recent Christmas singles, Richard released his first Christmas album, ''[[Together with Cliff Richard]]'', in 1991, but his bid for the UK Christmas No. 1 spot again with "[[We Should Be Together (Cliff Richard song)|We Should Be Together]]" was unsuccessful (making No. 10). 1992 saw "I Still Believe in You" (No. 7) released as his Christmas single, while 1993 saw Richard's first new music studio album for over three years released. Simply titled ''[[The Album (Cliff Richard album)|The Album]]'', it debuted at No.1 on the UK album chart. "[[Peace in Our Time (Eddie Money song)|Peace in Our Time]]" (No. 8) was the second lead single, followed by "Human Work of Art" (No. 24) and "Healing Love" (No. 19) for Christmas. In 1994, the compilation ''[[The Hit List (Cliff Richard album)|The Hit List]]'' was released; meanwhile in the background, Richard was concentrating on bringing the musical ''[[Heathcliff (musical)|Heathcliff]]'' to the stage.

With Richard's succession of hit songs and albums from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, followed by another strong run in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a strong fan base had been reestablished and Richard remained one of the best-known music artists in the country. Over the course of the 1980s, he recorded with [[Olivia Newton-John]], [[Elton John]], [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Phil Everly]], [[Janet Jackson]], [[Sheila Walsh (singer)|Sheila Walsh]] and [[Van Morrison]]. Meanwhile, the Shadows later re-formed (and again split). They recorded on their own, but also reunited with Richard in 1978, 1984 and 1989–90.