After months of speculation, and an exhaustive world-wide search, today the Bootleg Beatles recently revealed the identity of their new John Lennon. The band are delighted to announce that Adam Hastings will add his raspingly accurate Lennon vocal impersonation to the line-up replacing Neil Harrison (who has portrayed Lennon in the Bootlegs since their formation 31 years ago) and announced his intention to hang up his Beatle boots earlier this year.
Newcastle-born Adam comes from a musical family, his father is a respected musical arranger and session bass player (who played on the famous Pearl & Dean cinema theme tune), and who taught a 9 year old Adam how to play the bass to A Hard Day’s Night. This was the start of a life-time love of The Fab Four.
The Bootleg Beatles were the first band that Adam ever saw perform live – he met Neil and got a signed poster after a gig at Newcastle City Hall. Adam recalls, “I had three posters on my bedroom wall – Nirvana, one of the real Beatles and the autographed Bootlegs poster – in my mind as a lad they all had equal status, so to be joining them full time is amazingly ridiculous!”
Moving from bass to guitar, Adam studied jazz at Leeds University, and formed his own Beatle band after he graduated. His ‘leather-tonsilled’ vocals, musicianship and impersonation have meant Adam has been in high demand and he has played in a dozen different theatre shows and Beatle bands around the world. With all this experience Adam says he is thrilled to join what he calls “the best Beatle band there is”.
Neil Harrison’s portrayal of Lennon has been acclaimed by fans and media alike. The Bootleg Beatles have been a massive part of his life for 3 decades and he will continue to be involved with the management of the band. On passing the plectrum to Adam, Neil says, “Adam Hastings is a remarkable talent. He has the look of 'John' as well as his range and vocal sound exactly; and extraordinarily, he also manages to perfectly capture the essence and maturity of the man in performance. I have absolute faith that he will wow our audiences worldwide, and I wish him all the luck in the world.”
Adam sums up, “I think, aside from the team effort of getting to try and make the sound of my favourite records, I love the endless quest that impersonation seems to be. No matter how many mannerisms or John Lennon quirks I put into my performance there will always be more little gems to find.”
Adam will be donning his costumes with the Bootleg Beatles at their theatre shows & festival appearances this summer, before his debut UK tour with the band in December. All dates are listed on
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