A song written for friendship, left unfinished when one friend was gone.
Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John first met in the late 1970s. Both were rising stars—Cliff from the UK, Olivia from Australia—and they often crossed paths on television shows. In 1992, during a casual studio session in London, they came up with the idea of writing a song about enduring friendship, tentatively titled “Friends Like Us.”
Cliff drafted the first line: “We sing through the years, through the laughter and tears…” Olivia added a few more, laughing as her voice filled the room. They promised to finish it and release it on a special project.
But life intervened. Tours, solo projects, and the endless pace of show business pushed the song aside. Occasionally they joked backstage: “We must finish it before it’s too late.”
By 2019, Olivia Newton-John publicly revealed her third battle with cancer. Cliff sent messages of encouragement, though both knew her health would not allow another full studio project. Before a charity concert, Cliff quietly sang a few bars of “Friends Like Us” — unfinished, but heartfelt.
When Olivia passed in 2022, Cliff told the press he still keeps the handwritten draft, only half-complete. With tears, he said:
“We promised to finish it together. Now I think… maybe it will remain unfinished. But in that incompleteness, our friendship is still whole.”