Cliff Richard celebrates 50 years in music

Sir Cliff Richard has celebrated half a century at the top of the charts with a gathering of showbusiness friends. Cilla Black, who caused a sensation on the catwalk this week when she showed off her shapely legs while wearing very little at a charity fashion show, opted for a rather more demure outfit at the event. She arrived with her regular date, Reading Football Club chairman John Madejski. Gloria Hunniford was also at The Dorchester hotel in London, in the tribute event organised by the Variety Club Children's Charity. Sir Cliff, 67, and the broadcaster are close friends - the star sang his track Miss You Nights to Hunniford's daughter Caron as she battled with cancer. Britain's double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Tim Rice and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! star David Gest also attended the bash. Cherie Blair, who holidayed with her husband Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister at Sir Cliff's sumptuous Caribbean mansion, also joined the celebrity gathering. John Sachs, who was chairing the event, said: "Cliff is a true national treasure with a career that has spanned 50 years. "Today Cliff is right at the top of the charts. Variety Club is delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to this fantastic entertainer and much loved star." The bash comes after Sir Cliff's latest single, Thank You For A Lifetime, was released to celebrate his 50 years in the music industry. But it stopped short of becoming his 15th Number One over six decades, instead reaching Number Three in the charts, behind Kings of Leon's Sex On Fire and Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl. Earlier this month, Sir Cliff spoke for the first time about his friendship with a former Roman Catholic priest he shares his home with. In his new autobiography, the singer and well-known Christian said he was sick of speculation about his sexuality, thinks the Church should approve same sex marriages and describes Father John McElynn as his "companion".

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ITN | September 19, 2008

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