British pop star Cliff Richard revealed on Dec 15 that he has been treated for prostate cancer over the past year, but said the disease has been successfully treated. Photo: AP
British pop star Cliff Richard revealed on Dec 15 that he has been treated for prostate cancer over the past year, but said the disease has been successfully treated.
The 85-year-old singer told ITV television that the illness was discovered as part of a health check-up as he was about to embark on a recent international tour.
His Can’t Stop Me Now Tour 2025 took in 18 concerts in Australia, New Zealand and Britain between Nov 1 and Dec 9.
“I was going to Australia and to New Zealand and the promoter said, ‘Well, we need your insurance, so you need to be checked up for something’,” Richard told the channel’s Good Morning Britain.
“They found I had prostate cancer, but the good fortune was that it was not very old... and has not metastasised. Nothing had moved into bones or anything like that,” he said, adding that the cancer has “gone at the moment”.
The singer urged people “to get there, get tested, get checked”, calling for a national testing programme to be launched for men.
Once considered Britain’s answer to American rock ’n’ roll legend Elvis Presley, the ever-youthful Richard was one of Britain’s first home-grown pop stars – even before English rock band The Beatles – and won a huge following at home and abroad over his six-decade career.
Born Harry Rodger Webb, he adopted the stage name Cliff Richard in 1958, and with his backing band, The Shadows, was signed by EMI to their Columbia label.
His first single, Move It (1958), became an instant success, reaching No. 2 in the British charts.
The following years saw a string of chart toppers, including Living Doll in 1959. He also found success as an actor, with parts in British films Serious Charge and Expresso Bongo, both released that year.
The films The Young Ones (1961) and Summer Holiday (1963) were also massive hits for Richard in Britain and overseas.
Richard’s announcement came just days after Britain’s head of state, King Charles III, revealed that his own treatment for an undisclosed cancer will be reduced in the new year.
The monarch also urged Britons to take advantage of the country’s screening programmes.
“Early detection is the key that can transform treatment journeys, giving invaluable time to medical teams – and, to their patients, the precious gift of hope,” the king said in a televised national address. – AFP
