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Bands > Jimmy Jemain
 Jimmy
Jemain - as Cliff Richard
Jimmy Jemain was born in the east End of London
and later moved to Chestnut in Hertfordshire,
which was to be a significant move in his life.
From the age of seven, he sang and when he left
primary school to attend Riversmead Secondary
School, this was to be another coincidental move
for his career. This happened to be the same school
as Cliff Richard attended (be it a few years later!).
They even had the same English and Drama teacher
- Miss Norris.
Jimmy Jemain formed a band at the school and
when Cliff Richard re-visited the school to perform
a charity concert, Jimmy Jemain and his band were
the support group! Cliff Richard even lent him
his microphone !
When Jimmy Jemain left school, he qualified as
a mechanic but knew that all he really wanted
to do was sing. He won many talent contests but
most of the judges would always say he looked
and sounded like Cliff Richard, so he permed his
hair and they said he sounded like Cliff Richard
but looked like Leo Sayer !! There was no getting
away from it - he was destined to be....The Shadow
of Cliff.
Jimmy jemain performed summer seasons and pantomimes,
working along side people like John Inman and
David Copper field. In 1984, Jimmy jemain formed
a double act with Jae, who was a year later to
become his wife. They cruise the world on all
the top liners and in the act they include cliff
Richard as their specialty. This made them one
of the top duo's on the circuit. alongside the
duo, Jimmy jemain was part of a four piece harmony
group which worked abroad and it was in 1990,
while he was away, that the auditions came up
for stars in Their Eyes. When he returned, he
auditioned, got it and went on to win his heat
and then went on to appear on the series - 5 times
!!. Since then he has stopped working as Cliff,
being voted the top 'look and sound alike' of
Cliff Richard with even Sir cliff Richard himself
saying "spot on, a bit too good" and
Cliff Richard's sister was said to have reported
that "Jimmy Jemain's singing was just like
watching my brother!".
In 2003, Jimmy Jemain took the part of 'Cliff
the Musical' which toured the provinces and then
went into London's West End at 'The Prince of
Wales Theatre'. This was received well and no
one could believe the likeness that Jimmy Jemain
had to Cliff Richard.
When this tour came to an end, another promoter
picked up on Jimmy Jemain's professionalism and
with the Rapiers and Jet Harris (The original
Bass player of The Shadows), they formed his current
show - 'The Best of Me'. This is currently on
tour in theatres, all around the U. K.
Whilst touring this show, Jimmy Jemain continues
to work with his own self contained act as Cliff
Richard, performing in Hotels, Casinos and many
different types of venues....
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