Pete Price on why 10 years after her death Cilla Black remains a trailblazer for women

August 1 marks the 10^th anniversary of the death of one of Liverpool’s cultural icons, Cilla Black.

Cilla Black wasn’t just a star of music and TV, loved by millions of fans, she was also a pioneer – the only woman to have two number one hits in the mid-1960s and the only female host simultaneously to front two ratings-topping TV shows in the 80s and 90s, Surprise Surprise and Blind Date.

Pete Price followed her career from being a teenage fan to becoming a close friend after sharing the stage with her in panto at the Empire in 2008.

Ten years after her death aged 72, Pete remembers Cilla and her legacy as a trailblazer for women in showbusiness …

“Cilla was groundbreaking for women in television. There were only three channels at that time so she was being seen by 18million people in her TV shows and she was absolutely one of the first female TV superstars.

“Cilla started in the Merseybeat but she took Liverpool fame in a different direction because it wasn’t just music, she had music and comedy and TV. She opened so many doors because of that and she laid a path for female performers.

“She was an absolute grafter, she worked hard for the fame she had, and she was very confident – she knew exactly what she wanted and she made herself a star. She was Girl Power, 1million per cent.

“I know people sometimes criticise her for leaving Liverpool but the reason she had to leave was because she was never off television or out of the studio, she was working seven days a week. In fact she did come back when she could, she came to see family, but those visits were always private. 

“I first met Cilla when I was still a schoolboy at Hoylake Parade School. The YMCA in Hoylake had all the big stars on, The Beatles, Gerry Marsden, and you paid one and six to go in. 

“The Big Three were one of my favourite bands and this particular day Cilla Black, who I didn’t know, got up and sang Fever with them. It stayed with me forever, it was unbelievable. 

“I’d sag off from school on a Wednesday to go to the afternoon sessions at The Cavern and she was on the cloakroom. I remember saying ‘hello’ and telling her how much I’d loved her singing Fever and we talked away and then I never really saw her again.

“Our first proper meeting after that was when her first book came out. I was working on Radio City and she had a very successful TV career by then and I wanted desperately to interview her. Bobby was very protective so she was hard to get to, and in those days if you were a big star like she was you weren’t accessible. There was no social media, it was a different world, stars were on a pedestal.

“I interviewed her and from then we just kept bumping into each other at parties so our friendship started to develop. In 2008, I heard I was going to be in Cinderella with Cilla at the Empire, she came out of retirement and people came from all over the world to see that panto. It was a full house every night and she totally commanded that stage.

“I said to her in rehearsal, ‘we’re going to be mates’ and that’s when we secured our friendship and she started inviting me to stay at her homes. 

“At home she was totally Scouse, just Cilla, making cups of tea and bacon butties and she was just naturally so funny. 

“When she died the turnout was phenomenal, people lined the streets all around Liverpool and it was an amazing send off. 

“I was involved with the statue in Mathew Street that was created by Emma Rodgers. Cilla was a fabulous mum and Emma made a maquette for each of Cilla’s three boys, a small-scale replica. I have one too so it’s one of only four in the world, standing on my mantelpiece.

“I remember her every day, I’ll see the maquette or a photo or think of something and she’ll pop into my head. She was like family to me, we became so close, and we shared a sense of humour. We just laughed and laughed together.”

Find Cilla’s statues and other icons around the city here.

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