Sir Cliff Richard has revealed that he will probably quit touring soon, warning fans that he may only perform a few dance moves on stage at his upcoming shows. Reflecting on his own mortality, Cliff confessed: “I don’t want to be an 85-year-old guy trying to be 18.” The rock ‘n’ roll star, who is famous for his hip thrusts on stage, is performing in Australia and New Zealand before returning to the UK in November one month after his 85th birthday.
The singer, who is affectionally known as the Peter Pan of Pop for his eternal youth, gave fans an insight into life on tour, explaining that its often exhausting and has started to take a toll on him. He went on: “The thing I would have to give up probably at some time is touring.
“It’s very wearing, and you never know when you wake up in the morning whether your voice is still there.” When he was asked if his upcoming Can’t Stop Me Now tour could be a farewell tour or if he could return to the stage, he admitted he was undecided.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I might be dead the next year! So I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s one of those things. As I get older maybe I’ll become less able to perform, so I can’t say...”
However, the musician hopes to perform some of his trademark dance moves that first endeared him to fans back in the 1950s, when his performances of debut single Move It were deemed “too sexy” for the small screen.
The Summer Holiday hitmaker is hoping to perform a routine with two backing singers and dancers to his 1962 hit with his former band Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Do You Want To Dance? But the star acknowledges he is still yet to determine if it will be possible, and hopes to be able to when he starts rehearsals.
Cliff previously told the New Zealand radio station, Coast: “I used to move around a heck of a lot and there was a period when I would get four girl dancers, four guy dancers and I used to dance with them.
“What I don’t want to be is an 85-year-old trying to be 18. So, I can still move on stage, and that’s what I do. I’ve got two backing singers, two guys, and they can dance, they can act, they can sing, they can play instruments.
“And I’m going to see, when I get to rehearsals, to just say, ‘Let’s talk about maybe doing two songs where you come and join me out front. And while we’re singing something like Do You Want To Dance we do a few steps like that? I don’t want to try and be 18 anymore.
“I like singing now, I’m as excited now as I was when I came [to New Zealand] last time. And I’m sure the audience will see that we – the big band and I – are friends and almost a family when we’re on tour. So we’ll try and do something that will make it look as thought I’m 18! But I’m not.”
Cliff, who has sold more than 260million records worldwide, previously told fans he has no plans to retire and spoke of his hopes to remain on stage well into his 90s.
The We Don’t Talk Anymore chart topper’s upcoming Can’t Stop Me Now tour will include two dates at the Royal Albert Hall, where he holds a record for performing 32 date in two batches. He is also the only artist to have a top 5 album in eight different decades.
