But he is waiting for the 34-year-old to call him rather than him calling her

Sir Cliff RichardImage Credit: Reuters

Veteran singer Cliff Richard still wants to try out new things for his career such as cracking the American charts and is reportedly eyeing duets with major American artistes like Taylor Swift in his sights.

The singer seems to be planning to pull a leaf out of the books of Sir Elton John and Sir Tom Jones who have often collaborated with younger singers to keep them relevant with Sir Elton having a number one hit with Dua Lipa and Sir Tom teaming up with The Stereophonics and The Cardigans.

However, he seems to be waiting for 34-year-old Taylor to call him rather than him calling her, reports mirror.co.uk.

He told The Sun: “She’s the biggest artist on the planet. If she asked me, I’d say, ‘Yes please’, because I’m sure it would be a big hit. And it might be an introduction for me in America because I’ve failed in America, apart from what Elton did for me with two songs.”

Richard does have his eyes set on some British talent too as he admits he would happily settle for a duet with Ed Sheeran, who hit number one with Sir Elton in 2021 with their song ‘Merry Christmas’.

Richard said: “Ed Sheeran … now he does write some terrific songs, and there’s a certain melodic value to them as well.” He also backed Ed for confronting a recent plagiarism case — which a judge threw out of court when other songwriters claimed the Norfolk lad had stolen their tunes.”

Earlier this year, Sir Cliff faced a backlash when he claimed he once turned down the chance to meet Elvis Presley as he said the American music legend looked too fat to be photographed with him.

Frank Sinatra re-enters Billboard Hot 100 for first time in 56 years

His 1948 recording of ‘Jingle Bells’ is on top, 25 years after his deat

As the celebrations for Christmas draw closer, music legend Frank Sinatra hit another music milestone, 25 years after his demise.

The 13-time Grammy winner, who died in May 1998 at 82, just hit this year’s Billboard Hot 100 top 20 with his 1948 recording of ‘Jingle Bells’, reports People magazine.

As per Billboard, the recording climbed from the Number 28 to Number 20 slot on the Hot 100 in December 2023. Sinatra’s Christmas tune became his fourth Top 20 Hot 100 hit and his first song to reach the Top 20 since 1967.

From December 8 to December 14, the late crooner’s song streams increased by 19 per cent, totalling 16.9 million US streams. Additionally, the song has reached 15.3 million all-format radio audiences and sold 1,000 downloads, per Luminate, according to Billboard.

As per People, the song was written by James Lord Pierpont and published in 1857. Other recordings of the classic carol have been featured on the Billboard Top 100, including covers by Kimberley Locke, the Glee Cast, Lauren Daigle and Meghan Trainor.

Locke’s recording hit the Number 1 slot on Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 30 in 2006, while the Glee Cast’s rendition reached Number 10 on Billboard Holiday Digital Top 25 song sales in 2010.

Daigle’s version made it to Number 3 on Billboard Christian Airplay top 50 in 2016. Trainor’s version currently sits with Sinatra’s cover on the Holiday 100 chart, with her cover reaching the Number 74 slot.

Apart from ‘Jingle Bells’, Sinatra’s three other songs to chart were ‘Strangers in the Night’, which topped in 1966, ‘That’s Life’ which reached its peak at Number 4 in December 1966, and ‘Somethin’ Stupid’, with his daughter Nancy, which remained in the Number 1 slot for four weeks starting in April 1967.