The amazing voicemail Cliff Richard once left the Sex Pistols

31 March 2025, 12:07

Remembering the time Cliff Richard crossed paths with the Sex Pistols.

When it comes to their public image, It's hard to think of two artists as different as Cliff Richard and the Sex Pistols.

After his earliest years as a rocker (and even then), Sir Cliff Richard has been the epitome of good, clean fun while the Pistols were the complete opposite.

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But the two acts did once cross paths, when Pistols guitarist Steve Jones invited Sir Cliff onto the show he presented on Los Angeles radio.

"I ran into Cliff Richard." Jones told The Guardian. "I said do you want to come on the show, have a larf? And he said okay.

"He came down, brought his guitars, and I couldn't get him to shut up. He went through all the old classic songs. He’s such a pro. They don’t make 'em like him any more."

Cliff Richard - Congratulations (Eurovision Song Contest, 1968)

He added: "Anyway, he left, I had his number, and funnily enough he called me on my landline when we got accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"He left a message and he just started singing, 'Congratulations! And jubilations!' It was the funniest thing ever."

The Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, the same year as Black Sabbath, Blondie, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, though the Pistols didn't turn up to the ceremony.

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“Next to the SEX-PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain," read a handwritten note from John Lydon.

"Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming."