Elvis Presley superfan Daniel Kirwan won’t let disability get in the way of his passion
DANIEL KIRWAN first heard Elvis as a ten-year-old – and it moved him so much that he is now on stage performing as The King.
The singer, 45, was born with spina bifida and has been a wheelchair user all his life.
For the past 16 years he has inspired others with his passion for Elvis, after first performing as the late megastar in 2006.
Last week Daniel decided to enter The Sun on Sunday’s Elvis contest to mark the 45th anniversary of the music legend’s death in 1977 and discover the nation’s top fan or tribute artist.
Daniel said: “Elvis has given me the chance to prove that having a disability shouldn’t get in the way of doing what you love.
“It’s Elvis who has given me this opportunity to keep his music and memory alive and I will always be grateful to him for that.”
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Daniel, who lives with wife Linda, 45, and son Stephen, ten, in County Wexford, Ireland, said: “I’ve been an Elvis fan since I was about ten. It was hearing Suspicious Minds for the first time. I’ll never forget it.”
In 2005 he travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, to see Elvis’s Graceland home, and said: “I met his step-brothers Billy and Ricky Stanley.
“I told them my idea about performing as Elvis but being in a wheelchair.
“I was blown away by their response. They told me to go for it.”
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Daniel approached his local pub, The Crosses, and performed some of Elvis’s biggest hits in front of a packed audience.
He said: “I was feeling very nervous. I knew quite a lot of people from working as a DJ and being in a wheelchair, so they came to support me.
“The reaction was brilliant, everyone loved it. I will never ever forget that first performance, it was so special.
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“I’ve had other disabled people telling me that what I’m doing is helping them.”
The Sun on Sunday has been flooded with entries for our contest, which is being judged by TV host and Elvis superfan Vernon Kay, 48.
