Sir Cliff Richard swapped soul music for soul food when he took a turn working in a Memphis fried chicken restaurant.

The singer, who is in the US recording an album of duets with soul veterans including Candi Staton and Lamont Dozier, showed off his chef skills in Gus’s Fried Chicken in Memphis, Tennessee. Ms Staton, who recorded a series of critically-acclaimed soul records in the 1960s before hitting the charts in 1976 with Young Hearts Run Free, was impressed by Sir Cliff’s cooking.

She said: “I have never seen a white man cook Cajun fried rice and southern potato salad like Cliff. He’s obviously got a lot of soul in that rather lean body of his.”

The idea for the new record came from Gloria Hunniford, a close friend of Sir Cliff, who suggested the idea to executive producer David Gest during an episode of Celebrity Cash In The Attic.

Speaking earlier this year, Sir Cliff said: “No one would have expected me to sing a bunch of soul songs with iconic soul singers but I’m going to try and I’m going to do my soul, they are going to do their soul, and we should end up sounding soulicious.”