When Sir Cliff Richard saved Wimbledon by singing Summer Holiday on Centre Court

A number of celebrities have been spotted on day three of Wimbledon on Wednesday (July 2), among them Sir Cliff Richard. Synonymous with Wimbledon as strawberries and cream, the 84-year-old is a regular at the tennis championship.

For those of a certain age, there’s always one epic moment that springs to mind when thinking of the pop crooner and Centre Court though - and that is his impromptu singalong in front of a packed crowd of stunned tennis fans, almost thirty years ago.

For anyone too young to remember, Cliff came to the rescue when rain interrupted play on July 3, 1996, breaking into a rendition of his hit song Summer Holiday, before reeling out more classics.

These were the days before Centre Court’s retractable roof, meaning wet weather would halt the action. So, when the heavens opened during the match between then reigning Wimbledon Champion Pete Sampras and the eventual men’s singles winner that year, Richard Krajicek, there was nothing to do but wait. And wait.

After several hours, an official had the idea to ask Cliff to keep the crowd entertained with a song. Reticent at first, years later Cliff told The Guardian newspaper: “I said I couldn't really – I didn’t have a guitar, and I wasn’t sure how it would work. So he suggested I just do an interview instead, for the Centre Court crowd. I said that'll be fine.

"But at the end of the interview the guy turned to the audience and said, 'Before I let you go, they would never forgive me if I don't ask you to sing'. Well, I’m a professional. If I’m put on the spot, I can't really say no."

After he had belted out Summer Holiday, he says "almost as a joke", he followed up with The Young Ones, Bachelor Boy, a cover of Elvis’ All Shook Up, Living Doll, and finally his Eurovision runner-up, Congratulations. Sir Cliff was joined by a band of tennis superstars for the surreal gig, including Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernandez and Virginia Wade.

The crowd went wild and Cliff hit the headlines. Cliff later said: “It was totally a capella, which has its advantages - it's impossible to sing out of key for a start. And the crowd see the vulnerability of someone singing without any help. They were magnificent, from the first moment. The reaction was stunning."

Finishing a set that would go down in Wimbledon history, as Cliff left, he perfectly quipped: “I never thought I’d actually play on Centre Court.”

Back to today, and there were more music stars taking in the action. US music stars Olivia Rodrigo and Dave Grohl were among the top celebrity names on a star-studded day at the Championships.

Rodrigo – fresh from her Glastonbury set and a string of London shows – sat in the Royal Box with her boyfriend, actor Louis Partridge, to watch the day three matches. Foo Fighters frontman Grohl was in attendance with his wife, director Jordyn Blum.