Sir Cliff Richard would love to record an “unlikely” festive hit with Mariah Carey.
The ‘Devil Woman’ hitmaker just released his first Christmas album in almost 20 years, ‘Christmas With Cliff’, which was beaten by Stormzy’s ‘This Is What I Mean’ to the No1 spot in the Official UK Albums Chart.
And the 82-year-old music legend has revealed he’d be keen to get in the studio with the Queen of Christmas, ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ hitmaker Mariah, to record another Yuletide song as he’s intrigued to see how their differing vocal ranges go together.
He told the ‘James Watt in Conversation’ podcast: “You’re talking about someone who has got about a four-octave voice. I think I’ve got half an octave. It would be the most unlikely coupling for her and I to get together and that appeals to me.”
The ‘Honky Tonk Angel’ singer released ‘Cliff at Christmas’ in 2003 and ‘Together With Cliff Richard’ in 1991.
Cliff has had four UK Christmas No.1 singles, two as a solo artist with ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ and ‘Saviour’s Day’.
The ‘Summer Holiday’ hitmaker recently revealed he doesn’t do long tours anymore because of the “strain” on his vocal cords.
Cliff will embark on ‘The Blue Sapphire Tour’ next November, eight shows kicking off with a mini-residency at the London Eventim Apollo between November 6 and 12.
He said: “It’s not a very long tour. The heavy touring is a real strain, particularly on the vocal cords. You wake up in the morning hoping your voice will be OK for tonight so that’s a stressful thing, so I’m only doing about eight concerts next year and it’ll be fun. I like it and it’s nice to be in front of the public. It’s a mutual love.
“You’ve got to be a bit dignified when you’re 82.”
However, Cliff would never want to “retire” from music because he wouldn’t want to make a “comeback” if he decided to make a U-turn.
He explained: “Stop is a good word. I might stop one day. I don’t want to retire. Once you’ve retired you feel you’ve got to stay away and if you do want to do something it’s called a comeback. And every time I hear somebody has done a comeback I’m thinking they’ve run out of money.
“Recording is so much fun, if I could record every day of my life I would. It’s always a challenge because every time you do an album, there is something different about it.”