Born 86 Years Ago Today in India, the British Answer to Elvis Presley Who Dominated the Charts Before the Beatles

On this day (October 14) in 1940, Harry Rodger Webb was born in Lucknow, India. Known professionally as Cliff Richard, he burst onto the rock n’ roll scene with his 1958 single, “Move It”. Hailed as Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley, Richard ruled the UK charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s before Beatlemania officially took hold. With a career spanning more than six decades, he ranks third behind the Beatles and the “King” among the best-selling artists in UK singles chart history. Today, we’re spotlighting his life and career in honor of his 86th birthday.

How He Became Cliff Richard

After relocating from India to the London suburbs in the late 1940s, Harry Webb found himself swept up in the skiffle craze that spread through the country the following decade. (Blending folk, blues, country, bluegrass and jazz, skiffle often relies on homemade or improvised instruments.)

After receiving his first guitar from his father at age 16, Webb went on to form the school vocal harmony group The Quintones before singing in the Dick Teague Skiffle Group. In 1958, he joined UK group the Drifters as lead singer and began going by the stage name Cliff Richard. (“Cliff” implied “rock”, while Richard came from Webb’s musical hero Little Richard.

The band’s single “Move It” became a massive hit, reaching number two on the UK singles chart. John Lennon credited it as Britain’s first rock n’ roll record, saying that “before that there’d been nothing.”

A New Wave of Rock n’ Roll

By the late 1950s, British music fans were hungry for some homegrown pop heroes, and Cliff Richard was just what they were looking for.

“Move It” catapulted him to stardom and ushered in a boom in British rock & roll. Along with his backing group the Shadows, Richard became its most recognizable face.

The following year, he scored a number-one hit with “Living Doll”. This marked the first of 14 number-one career hits for Richard. Indeed, he is the only singer in the history of music to have a UK number-one hit across five decades.

Richard’s commercial peak wasn’t confined to the stage, either. He also enjoyed a successful film career, landing roles in including Expresso Bongo (1959), The Young Ones (1961), Summer Holiday (1963) and Wonderful Life (1964), along with his own BBC show.

Overshadowed by Beatlemania

Once the Beatles arrived on scene in the early 1960s, however, there was little room for anyone else on the British pop scene.

While Cliff Richard continued charting hits throughout the decade, he never quite reached the same level of stardom he had previously enjoyed. And despite four Hot 100 hits — including the top 25 “It’s All in the Game” — between August 1963 and August 1964 — he never could replicate his success on the U.S. market.

In 1964, Richard publicly announced his re-dedication to his Christian faith. While he still recorded secular material with the Shadows, he devoted much of his time to Christian-based work.

Richard experienced something of a career resurgence in the 1970s and 1980s with hits like “Devil Woman” and “Dreamin”.

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Knighted in 1995, Cliff Richard had sold more than 250 million records worldwide by then. He continues touring to this day.

Featured image by Jo Hale/Redferns

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