Rob Kingsley: the Elvis impersonator

Do you remember the first time you heard The King?

I was a young kid playing in the garden of my friend’s house when I heard his big brother playing Heartbreak Hotel on his record player. Then he played Blue Suede Shoes and I couldn’t believe it was the same guy singing. I was hooked.

You’re in your mid-40s now, Rob, so you’d have been seven or eight when Elvis died. Do you remember that day?

What did you do before you started your tribute act to The King?

I was in the army for 15 years but hurt my knee and had to leave. Everyone knew I liked Elvis but the singing only came about after I left. I did some karaoke on holiday in Cyprus and the owner of the place booked me to go back and be an Elvis act. I moved out with my family five weeks later and stayed for just under two years.

How many Elvis tribute acts are there?

They reckon that by 2020 one in every three men will have dressed up as Elvis at some point. As for actual tribute acts, I know there are thousands across the globe.

Where do you get your costumes from?

I have my suits made by Gene Doucette, who made Elvis’s suits. I’ve got over 50 of them and they cost more than $120,000 (Dh440,760). They’re perfect replicas of the ones he wore. I’ve also got a very rare guitar that Elvis used in 1968 and even the microphones I use are the same kind he had.

Have you been to Graceland?

Yes; I touched the gates, saw the grave and the jumpsuits and everything and I’ve met the band three or four times. I’ve also been endorsed by Ed Bonja – Elvis’s photographer and tour manager from 1970-77. He told me, ‘You look like Elvis, you talk like Elvis, hell, you even walk like Elvis.’ That was an amazing compliment.

Where has your tribute show taken you?

I’ve been to Singapore, Australia, all over Europe, Bahrain, Dubai. I’ve been quite lucky. The biggest show I’ve done was at Wembley Stadium with Tinie Tempah, and I also did one in front of 17,000 people at London’s Hyde Park for a cancer charity.

What was your strangest ever show?

I don’t know about strangest, but the most touching was when I played the old people’s home down the road from me – it was for a group of terminally ill people. There was a woman in there who hadn’t spoken for four years and she suddenly started singing It’s Now Or Never with me. It was the most rewarding gig I’ve ever done.

What was your smallest gig?

I did Wembley on the Saturday and then a private party of eight people the day after. The massive gigs have an electric atmosphere, but intimate gigs are great as well as you can spend more time with people and it’s easier to do requests.

What memories do you have of the UAE?

I did two shows at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi – that was amazing – and I did six or seven at the Madinat Theatre in Dubai. I loved the place, and people couldn’t have been more friendly. What I really got a kick out of was the gold-vending machine in the lobby of the Emirates Palace. I didn’t stock up on any ingots but I did buy my wife two diamond rings.

You were voted the best Elvis impersonator in Europe; what makes you so highly rated?

Practice! Elvis was a one-off and there’ll never be another, so you’ll always be second best. As long as you keep in mind that you’re doing a tribute to someone it helps to keep your feet on the ground.

Of Elvis’s 800 songs, what’s the hidden gem that only die-hard fans know?

See if you can track down Love Me, Love The Life I Lead – that’s a great song.

Finally, which item from your Elvis collection would you like to be buried with/in?

I don’t know, because I’ll be leaving a lot of it to my grandkids! I think I’d like to take some of Elvis’s music. A CD of American Trilogy – that’s what I’d take with me.