Cliff Richard rolls back the years with dancing tribute to 'The King' Elvis Presley on live tv

30 August 2023, 15:38 | Updated: 10 January 2024, 12:53

Cliff Richard has never hid his affection for the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

The British pop icon looked up to Elvis Presley from a young age, and he was inspired to pursue a career in music himself after hearing 'Heartbreak Hotel'.John Lennon claimed Cliff Richard was the best thing to happen to British music

A year ago, Cliff also revealed one his greatest regrets in life was turning down the opportunity to meet Presley in person.

Recalling the scenario, Cliff said: "There was this one time. I was promoting 'Devil Woman' in America, and this journalist came and talked to me, and I said to him, 'Well, Elvis is my inspiration.''

"He said, 'I know him well. Do you want to have your photograph taken with him?' When the interview was over, he said, 'Well, when do you want to do it?'"

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At the time, Cliff confessed he thought Elvis was overweight so didn't want him to be the only lasting memory of him together with the music legend.

But the opportunity never came again, as the King sadly died shortly after. Cliff admitted: "I regret it now because I should have said yes, let's do it!"

"I say to a lot of people I meet, if you have got somebody you like and you get a chance to get a picture taken with them, do it!" he added.

Cliff is clearly taking his own advice on board, and couldn't resist the opportunity to pay tribute to Elvis Presley by emulating his dance moves on a recent television appearance.

Appearing on ITV's chat-show Loose Women, Cliff was invited on as a guest to promote his upcoming book A Head Full Of Music.

He opened up about the first time he ever heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' on the radio, and thought "I have to do this".

"We chased it,' he said. "Luck comes your way to all of at some point, but you need to grab it by the throat."

The show's presenter Kaye Adams then commented on Elvis Presley's iconically rebellious dance moves, which etched the Tupelo, Mississippi-born star into the hearts and minds of music lovers around the world.

With little encouragement, Cliff then preceded to roll back the years by hopping up in front of the panel, and showcasing his own Elvis-inspired dance moves.

At the age of 82, 'The Young Ones' singer then joked: "I'm not coming on this show again!" as he sat back down.

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Beforehand during the interview, Cliff was asked about ageing and still performing into his eighties, this year celebrating his 65th year in showbusiness.

"To me, age doesn't seem to matter… I don't see any point in being nasty or thinking bad things about ageing, it's going to happen to all of us. I will one day die but I haven't decided when!" he defied.

"We've learnt to love birth, people send pictures of their babies, and that's right, but we somehow haven't learnt to deal with death," Cliff continued. 

"Because death is something that comes and it splits families and it splits parents, husband and wives, and therefore it's not something we welcome but we should at least get used to it and say 'to heck with it, if it happens, it happens'. You can still have a life whilst you're ageing."

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Asked about his life-long friendship with the late Olivia Newton-John, Cliff confirmed that there will be an incredibly heartfelt tribute to her on his forthcoming album, Cliff With Strings - My Kinda Life.

He recalled how the original duet of 'Suddenly' came together, remembering how Olivia called him and said: "'look I'm doing this movie and unfortunately my co-star doesn't sing…'"

"I'm going 'yes!' and of course, she said 'would you come over and sing it with me?' I would normally say 'please send me the track'... you can't record songs you don't like… but I didn't bother."

"I went across and recorded it in the engineers garage so every now and then we'd have to stop as a truck went by!" he added.

"But all in all, Olivia and I sing well together and it was the best duet I think because it suited the male voice and it suited the female voice… Part of it is just luck that it did blend."