Lord’s Prayer a Musical Hit in United Kingdom

Cliff Richard’s rejected recording reaches number one

A 59-year-old former teen idol has put the Lord’s Prayer, sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, at the top of the UK national hit parade.

The BBC and other mainstream radio stations kept Sir Cliff Richard’s Millennium Prayer off their playlists, saying the musical quality was too poor. Denied the oxygen of publicity, the record was expected to fail, but instead the music world learned November 29 that the recording had seized the number one spot ahead of current pop idols, Boyzone.

A music industry executive, Gennaro Castaldo, told London’s Daily Mirror newspaper: “It shows that for once this is not simply about marketing and radio play. It looks like his devoted fan base, coupled with the push from the wider Christian community, has helped him along.”

Among many red faces in the recording industry are executives from Richard’s long-time recording company, EMI, who did not want the song, even from a star with 13 previous British number one hits in a 40-year recording career.

Instead, the Millennium Prayer was brought out by a smaller company.

Even Richard, who is a committed Christian, at first had doubts about the idea of combining Christianity’s foundation prayer with a tune known in many countries as the herald of the new year. He was reported as feeling that the idea made one “want to puke [vomit]” before realizing that it was “a stroke of genius … The combination of the two is perfect.”

Richard is an enduring figure on the British music scene. His first UK no 1 record was Living Doll in 1959 – and he took the same song back to the top in 1986.

Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995, Richard has never married and has a reputation for clean living. His boyish looks have earned him the nickname “the Peter Pan of pop.” He has never been linked to the rock and roll drug scene and claims to have been the worse for alcohol just twice in his life.

Premier, a London-based Christian radio station of which Sir Cliff Richard is a patron, was one of the few British stations to regularly play the Millennium Prayer before it reached the top of the hit parade.

Cindy Kent, a Premier presenter and a friend of Richard who used to sing with him, told ENI: “When we heard that BBC Radio 2 would not be playing the record, we were amazed. We felt they had greatly underestimated Cliff’s popularity.

“It is a melodic arrangement, and the Christian character of the millennium was another reason why we expected it to succeed.”

Premier Christian Radio started playing the Millennium Prayer every hour on the hour through the day as a way of demonstrating its support for the record. It called BBC Radio 2’s decision “unbelievable” and “an incredible abdication of its responsibilities to its millions of listeners across the country.”

It was particularly incensed at the denial of airtime because Richard was giving the proceeds to children’s charities, Cindy Kent said.

She had spoken to Cliff Richard after the record reached no 1. “He was thrilled but also bewildered at the treatment of the record [by most radio stations],” she said. “He wasn’t bitter. I don’t think Cliff has it in him to be bitter.”

A columnist with the Sun tabloid newspaper in London, Dominic Mohan, expressed his surprise at Cliff’s improbable hit: “Never in 1000 years would I have believed the Lord’s Prayer, sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, would have made it to the top spot.”

Kent believed a factor in the record’s steady climb to the top was the “British thing to love the underdog.” With the odds stacked against Richard, many people would have thought: “We’ll show them.”

Related Elsewhere

For more on Cliff Richard, visit the Sir Cliff Richard Home Page or Cliff Richard News.

If you have the RealAudio player, you can hear a clip of the Millennium Prayer here.

Premier Radio can be heard through its Web site: www.premier.org.uk

Also in this issue

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? Over the past 2,000 years, the gospel has transformed countless lives. Likewise, Christian ideas have shaped cultures. At this turn of the millennium, what contributions to civilization should we celebrate?

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Mission

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Humility

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Literacy

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Science

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Dignity

Elegy for a Jesus Freak

Reflections on Christmas

No Room in the Womb?

Why We Still Need Moody

Fatherhood on the Rebound

Meditations: Drive-Through Christmas

Cassie Said Yes, They Say No

Dispatch From Sierra Leone: Suckled on Gunpowder

Is Christmas Pagan?

The Abortion Debate Is Over

Redeeming Fire

Making Room for God

Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime

New & Noteworthy: Church History

Doctorโ€™s Orders

Ban May Go to Supreme Court

Marketing Martyrdom to Teens

JESUS Film Debuts on DVD

In Brief: December 06, 1999

Feed the Children Battles Controversy

Court Upholds Video Poker Ban

Violence Mars Bonnke's Revival

Arrested Christians Face Deportation

In Brief: December 06, 1999

Hindus Protest Papal Visit

First United Nations 'Spiritual Summit' Planned

Wire Story

Plans for Meeting Between Baptist Jewish Heads Called Off

Wire Story

Homosexuality: Falwell Tames His Tongue

Wire Story

Christians Protest Proposed Mosque

Moscow Meeting Eases Russia's Interchurch Tensions

The Grove Press Bible

Positive About Potter

Jailed Sudanese Priests Reject presidential Amnesty

Two Major Philippine Churches Sign Agreement for Closer Links

Leading German Bishop Says Church Will Bow to Rome in Abortion Controversy

Tashkent Christian Threatened with Two-Year Prison Term

New Delhi Center Dedicated to Princess Di's Wish to End 'Stigma' of Leprosy

Homosexual Group Institutes Award for Straight Religious Leaders

Amassed Media: Evolution Wars

Wire Story

Ministries Intensify As East Timorese Refugee Camps Grow

Jerusalem's Church Leaders Usher in Millennium Celebrations

Help Us Develop Our Souls Mandela Tells World Religious Leaders

Australian Church Agrees to Run Controversial Room for Injecting Drugs

Leading Catholic Theologian Outlines His Vision of Next Pope

Campbell Remains Optimistic As She Looks to Life After the NCC

Amassed Media: God Bless America's Candidates

One Denomination at Its Best and Worst

Letters

Ned Grahamโ€™s Woes Shake East Gates

Texas Southern Baptists: Submission Rejected

Brazil: Scholars Debate Mission Methods

Alabama: An Education Gamble

Buddhism: Spirituality Without Religion

Editorial

More of the Same

View issue

Our Latest

Review

The Internetโ€™s Sins Are Our Sins. But It Shouldnโ€™t Escape All Blame.

A critic of tech panic forgets that our tools shape us just as we shape them.

Review

We Have Never Been Deplorable

A new book critiques elitesโ€™ incurious accounts of the American right and illuminates their complicity in our social breakdown.

You Are the Light of the Public Square

American Christians can illuminate our countryโ€™s politicsโ€”if we engage with moral imagination, neighborliness, boldness, and humility.

Where Ya From?

From Pain to Empowerment with Orsika Fejer-Baas

Orsika Fejer-Baas shares her story of resilience and overcoming domestic abuse.

The Bulletin

October 7, 2023 Remembrance with Yossi Halevi

The Bulletin remembers the tragic events in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the year of turmoil that has come after.

Heaven Is A Homeplace

Hurricane Helene devastated the land I love. My pain points me toward what’s to come.

News

UK Regulators Investigate Barnabas Aid over Reports of Misused Funds

The charity is under an โ€œunprecedented level of scrutiny on our financial processesโ€ after founders and top leaders were suspended.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube