Sir Cliff Richard has emerged as king of the 2022 music calendar sales chart, proving more popular than younger stars, it has been reported.
The 81-year-old Young Ones singer came first in Calendar Club’s top 10 music category, the Sun reports.
Since his first calendar was released in 1979, Sir Cliff has sold 1.5m of them to his enthusiastic fanbase.
Famous for his hits Summer Holiday and Devil Woman, Sir Cliff had informed potential buyers that he would no longer be able to pose topless for calendars.
However, his 2022 offering includes him posing shirtless for August in only swimming trunks while raising a glass to the camera from the comfort of a swimming pool.
His calendar was shot mostly in New York, along with one picture taken in Barbados, where Sir Cliff owns a luxury villa.
Sir Cliff’s spokesperson said: “The calendar was shot in NYC earlier in 2021, with one additional image taken in Barbados.
“Sir Cliff loved the informality of the shoot and was able to direct the creative himself.”
Along with Sir Cliff, calendars of another vintage star, Elvis Presley, also remained more sought-after than contemporary artists. The king of rock’n’roll took second spot in music calendar sales, according to Calendar Club.
Harry Styles, 27, took third place despite the runaway success of his solo music and acting career in recent years after leaving One Direction in 2016.
Kylie Minogue, 53, came fourth ahead of Little Mix in sixth and Taylor Swift in ninth. The stars were the only women in the top 10 for music calendar sales.
Despite Sir Cliff’s success in music calendar sales, he no longer featured in the top 10 overall, in which football clubs dominated. Liverpool came ahead of Manchester United to win most overall sales.
Natalie Taylor at Calendar Club said: “Cliff is still king of the calendars but he has actually slipped from seventh in the main chart, which includes all categories, to 11.”
In the TV sales chart, the US sitcom Friends came top and the BBC comedy Mrs Brown’s Boys came second.