Sir Cliff Richard was born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India, in 1940, but the family moved to England eight years later.
He started performing as a teenager with his band The Drifters, which later became The Shadows, and his first hit single Move It reached number two in the UK singles chart on his 18th birthday.
Dubbed the “British Elvis”, Sir Cliff went on to have a string of hit records and is the only singer to have had a number one single in each decade from the 1950s to the 1990s.
He is the third top-selling artist in UK single chart history, behind only Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and his discography includes 43 studio albums, 57 other albums and 139 singles.
The 77-year-old singer has sold mode than 250 million records worldwide in a career spanning nearly 60 years.
His most famous hits include Summer Holiday, Living Doll and Mistletoe And Wine and he has twice represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest.
He was second in 1968 with Congratulations, which became a number one hit, and then finished third with Power to All Our Friends in 1973.
Sir Cliff became a Christian in 1964 and made appearances with evangelical US preacher Billy Graham, as well as recording Christian music.
His last number one hit was The Millennium Prayer in 1999, which set the words of the Lord’s Prayer to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.
The singer has starred in 12 films including The Young Ones, Summer Holiday and Run For Your Wife.
He was awarded an OBE in 1980 and given a Knighthood in 1995, becoming the first rock star to receive the honour.