Sir Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard Reveals Pressures of Being In The Spotlight

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

British Christian pop singer Sir Cliff Richard revealed the pressure he feels of being a Christian in the spotlight, on London’s Premier Christian Radio last week.

He also laughed off a poll that asked people what came to mind when they thought of Christianity.

Sir Cliff Richard spoke exclusively to Premier Inspirational Breakfast Show host, Lizzie Crow last week on the pressure he feels on being a Christian in the music industry.

He said, “I felt a pressure when I first became a Christian. You don’t realize for a while just how many people know who you are.

“With Christianity we’re supposed to be ambassadors for our faith. It’s too big a mantle, too heavy a mantle for an individual to wear. I keep saying to people that I will never be perfect. All we can ever do is see perfection in a character called Jesus and say, ‘if only I can be like that.’”

Commenting on attempting faultlessness he continued, “Perfection is not something [God] expects from us. So I started to look at it that way. And that was where the pressure was. I know that people were looking at me and trying to find faults. I’m filled with flaws. Filled with them! I’m just not going to share them with everybody! I only want to share the triumphs. They are the only things that can influence people to any goodness.”

Sir Cliff laughed off a recent poll that asked people what came to mind when they thought of Christianity. “They all said Cliff Richard! I mean -- how could they not say Jesus? I beat Jesus and the Pope?!”

Sir Cliff puts this thinking down to the fact that we are living in a much more secular society. “A ‘Rock n’ Roll singer who comes out and says he’s a Christians is likely to impress somebody.”

He continued, “I didn’t like that poll very much. And I made a joke of it by saying, ‘Oh, the Pope hasn’t made a record recently...’”

According to www.topnews.in , Sir Cliff recently beat Canadian singer Justin Bieber in the calendar charts, taking the top spot by outselling the teen star.

New figures from www.Amazon.co.uk show Richard, 70, has been the all-time biggest seller for calendar maker Danilo with more than 1.5 million sold over the years.

Sir Cliff released a new album October 10 on EMI Records

Log onto www.premier.org.uk for more details.

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For more information on Premier Christian Media please contact: Sharon Molloy sharon.molloy@Premier.org.uk or Tel: +44 (0)20 7316 1335

Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.