Cliff Richard is preparing to try reggae at the age of 86, working with Chris Eaton on a new version of The Lord Is My Shepherd. The singer says he is still learning the phrasing of the song, which he hopes could become another Christmas success. A release date has not been confirmed, while his separate album Only Number Ones arrives on November 27.
Cliff Richard has spent almost seven decades making records, yet he is still encountering musical territory he has not explored. His latest surprise is a reggae treatment of The Lord Is My Shepherd, developed with longtime collaborator Chris Eaton. The veteran singer hopes the project could lead to another Christmas chart success, but he freely acknowledges that he is still learning how to perform it.
He discussed the idea during an October 18 appearance at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, London. The event centered on his forthcoming album Only Number Ones and included conversation with the audience. Alongside questions about that release, he described the separate composition he was preparing with a songwriter whose work had already played an important role in his Christmas recording history.
Eaton wrote Saviour's Day, which became a UK Christmas No. 1 for Richard in 1990. For the new project, the composer has turned to a biblical text and placed it within a reggae setting. Cliff Richard explained that the relationship between the words and the rhythm requires a different approach from him. Eaton, he said, understands that style more readily.
The singer did not pretend that he had mastered the arrangement. He said he had never sung reggae and was in the process of learning, joking that he could not yet perform the whole composition because he had not learned it. This was an account of work in progress, rather than the presentation of a completed single or a finished recording.
The title comes from Psalm 23, one of the most familiar texts in Christian tradition. Its opening words have appeared in hymns and other musical treatments over many years. Eaton's approach places that recognizable religious material within a different rhythmic framework, giving Richard a new interpretive task while maintaining a connection with themes he has previously explored in his music.
Cliff Richard focused particularly on how the phrases fit against the arrangement. The challenge he described concerns rhythm and vocal placement, rather than an announced problem with his voice or his ability to record. His willingness to discuss the learning process made the proposal unusually candid: a singer with an exceptionally long career was describing the practical effort involved in attempting something unfamiliar.
Christmas recordings already occupy a substantial place in that career. Mistletoe and Wine reached the UK Christmas No. 1 position in 1988, followed by Saviour's Day in 1990. I Love You had previously taken the seasonal top spot in 1960. He also participated in the Band Aid II recording of Do They Know It's Christmas?, which led the chart at Christmas in 1989.
Religious material returned to the center of his chart success with The Millennium Prayer in 1999. That recording combined the words of the Lord's Prayer with a familiar traditional melody and reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart. The proposed Psalm 23 song continues an interest in biblical texts, while its reggae arrangement offers a different musical direction from those earlier recordings.
A new Christmas No. 1 remains an ambition rather than a forecast. Cliff Richard has not confirmed a release date for The Lord Is My Shepherd, and accounts differ on which festive season the project might target. Without a completed release announcement or an available recording, listeners cannot yet judge its final sound or assume that it will arrive for Christmas 2026.
His confirmed forthcoming release is Only Number Ones, due from Warner Music on November 27, 2026. The concept involves his own interpretations of songs by other artists that reached the top of the charts. He proposed that approach to the label and chose twelve favorites, presenting the album as a tribute to successful recordings and the performers associated with them.
The selections include Spirit in the Sky, All I Have to Do Is Dream, I'm a Believer and Oh, Pretty Woman. Harry Styles' Sign of the Times also appears, extending the choices beyond recordings connected with Richard's own generation. White Christmas supplies a confirmed festive song on the standard album. It is distinct from the reggae project he described at the theater.
The two-disc deluxe edition adds earlier Cliff Richard hits, including Living Doll, The Young Ones, We Don't Talk Anymore, Mistletoe and Wine and Saviour's Day. Neither the announced standard track list nor the deluxe edition includes The Lord Is My Shepherd. The forthcoming album and the work with Eaton should therefore be understood as separate projects with different stages of completion.
Since beginning his recording career with Move It in 1958, Cliff Richard has built a catalog associated with rock and roll, British pop and Christmas favorites. His latest proposal does not announce a wholesale change of direction. It concerns one composition and the time needed to learn its particular demands. For now, the November album has a firm release plan, while the reggae song remains under preparation.
