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Living life as a lookalike in Leeds: Elvis Presley and John Lennon
Ray Wood and below, Adam Hastings.
Meet the people who make a living thanks to their remarkable resemblance to some of the biggest names in showbusiness. Elvis Presley and John Lennon kick off our special series of features.
THEY remain two of the planet’s most famous faces.
Elvis Presley and John Lennon, icons who went to tragically early graves.
Fans can, of course, keep their spirit alive by listening to the majestic music they made during their careers.
But here in West Yorkshire, two performers are going one step further by regularly taking to the stage as their idols.
Ray Wood and Adam Hastings are among the most successful of the county’s small army of lookalike and tribute acts.
Elvis devotee Ray has been strutting his stuff as ‘The King’ for the best part of a decade.
Adam, meanwhile, was last year handed the chance to fill the Lennon role in top tribute band The Bootleg Beatles.
Now the pair have spoken to the Yorkshire Evening Post about their unusual jobs, as we kick off a five-day focus on the world of the lookalike.
And, asked what it’s like to sample the delights of showbusiness superstardom, Ray and Adam both declared: “We’re living the dream!”
Ray, 45, from Birstall, was still at school when he first began to harbour thoughts of stepping into Presley’s shoes.
He told the YEP: “I’m a long-term Elvis fan and it’s something I always fancied.
“When I was at school and the careers officer came round asking us what we wanted to do, some people said ‘fireman’, some people said ‘policeman’ but I said ‘I want to be Elvis’!
“Actually making that leap started a bit later in life, though, when I was about 37.
“The first time I got up on stage was probably down in the Royal pub in Heckmondwike at my auntie’s birthday party and it all started rolling from there.
“When I’m performing as Elvis the feeling is awesome. You get an adrenaline rush just from putting the suit on. It’s the ultimate.
“The man himself had everything – he had the voice, the looks, the persona. People saw him and fell in love.
“It’s brilliant that, so many years after his death, they still feel the same.
“I’d say he’s as popular today as he ever was.”
Ray, whose house is named ‘Raysland’ after Presley’s Graceland home, typically plays a couple of gigs a month.
His ‘look’ is based around the jumpsuits Elvis wore during his residencies in Las Vegas in the 1970s – and it’s safe to say he’s not keen on the tribute acts who turn back the costume clock to Presley’s stint in the US military.
“When did Elvis wear an army uniform? When he was in the army and in the film G.I. Blues, not on stage,” he said.
Ray’s favourite Presley songs include Suspicious Minds, The Wonder Of You and Always On My Mind.
And his proudest moment since he first stepped into the spotlight at the Royal in Heckmondwike?
“The most memorable gig was a half-hour slot at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas,” said Ray.
“I got a good reaction and it was again just an amazing feeling.”
Over in Beatleland, Adam’s take on John Lennon has had crowds twisting and shouting with the best of them for the last six months or so.
He was picked to join ‘the Bootlegs’ in July after the band’s original and long-serving Lennon decided to hang up his Rickenbacker guitar.
And the 24-year-old, from Beeston in Leeds, didn’t have to wait too long for a taste of Beatlemania, 21st century-style.
Adam said: “At the start, it felt like a little bit of a whirlwind.
“The first corporate gig was two days after they told me I’d got the job.
“My first public gig was a week after, in Preston.
“We did the odd show from then until November, then we went to Russia. When we got back from that at the start of December we did an English tour.
“It’s been brilliant. People love The Beatles, so you just need to make sure they have a good night and get their money’s worth.”
Adam picked out a concert at Newcastle City Hall as his best experience in the band to date.
“The only time I’d been there before was to see The Bootleg Beatles when I was 14,” he said.
“It was weird being there again, playing with them – I even tried to find the seat that I sat in when I first went!”
He also admitted that, enjoyable as his double life is, ‘being’ Lennon on stage isn’t always plain sailing.
“You get out of it what you put into it,” Adam said.
“I spend hours and hours trying to do it the right way, just watching the videos and listening to the music and not taking any shortcuts.
“It’s amazing, when you listen to The Beatles, you can have a song that you’ve been looking at and practising and playing for years, then you just hear this little extra element that you’ve never noticed before.
“There’s always those things to find.
“I want to carry on doing it as long as I can – I’m loving it now and I don’t see why I wouldn’t keep on loving it.”
l Ray will be performing as Elvis in a show at St Peter’s Church in Birstall on Saturday, February 4.
Proceeds from the concert will go to church funds.
For more details, ring 01924 473715.
* The Bootleg Beatles play gigs in Halifax, York and Bradford this March.
For more details, visit: www.bootlegbeatles.com
* Have you got what it takes to be a lookalike? Send your pictures to shirley.whitehead@ypn.co.uk and we’ll print the best in Friday’s YEP.
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