Cliff Richard Ahead Of Taylor Swift In Christmas Chart Battle
Cliff Richard could claim 2022’s Official Christmas Number 1 album, as his latest release edges ahead of closest competitor Taylor Swift in the midweek charts, according to the Official Charts Company.
Christmas With Cliff is just ahead of Swift’s former Number 1 LP Midnights, with only 60 chart units currently separating the singers.
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Cliff’s second yuletide album, following Top 10 2003 collection Cliff At Christmas, narrowly missed out on the Number 1 spot last month, when Stormzy’s third studio LP This Is What I Mean pipped him to the post.
Should it hold on, Christmas With Cliff would become Cliff’s eighth chart-topping album. Cliff’s previously enjoyed Number 1 success with 21 Today (1961), The Young Ones (1961), Summer Holiday (1963), 40 Golden Greats (1977), Love Songs (1981), Private Collection (1988) and The Album (1993).
With just 1400 chart units separating the Top 3 according to today’s data, it’s also too soon to discount Michael Bublé’s festive staple Christmas. The record, which peaked at Number 1 upon its release in 2011, currently sits at Number 3 and boasts the biggest streaming figures of the week so far.
The 2022 Official Christmas Number 1 album will be announced on Friday, December 23. The full Christmas Top 40 will be counted down on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show with Jack Saunders from 4pm.
Meanwhile, the Musician’s Company has given Cliff its Popular Music Lifetime Achievement Award. Cliff said, ” “I am absolutely delighted to be honoured with this award from the Worshipful Company of Musicians in my 64th year in the music industry. Who’d have thought when I set out on this fantastic journey at age 17 in 1958 that I’d still be recording and performing into my 80s? It was a dream, and I am proof that dreams really do come true. To win a Pop lifetime achievement award was certainly nothing I could ever have imagined happening to me, so I thank the Musicians’ Company for their recognition and support for me. Their work providing financial help to young musicians to forge careers is wonderful, long may their work continue”.