15 February 2024 , 14:00
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A Beatles superfan says he decided to change his name to John Paul George Ringo Lennon - after getting sick and tired of people calling him Elvis all the time.
Born David Presley, the 72-year-old says he and his family are huge Beatles fans - and even has a grandson called Paul McCartney, while his two daughters have followed in his footsteps, changing their names to Melanie McCartney and Caroline Lennon. Mr Lennon, from Bridgwater, Somerset, said: "I'm just mad about the Beatles, and I have been for as long as I can remember.
John's home is filled with Beatles memorabilia, and he listens to their music for up to five hours a day. He said: "My room is like a museum. There are life-sized posters of all four of them and I like to say 'good morning' and 'good evening' to them."
Mr Lennon even has a grandson called Paul McCartney (Tom Wren / SWNS)John, who used to work as a forklift driver, owns 100 Beatles T-shirts and often wears a Sgt Pepper suit. Despite never seeing the band live, he regularly attends tribute concerts. His favourite songs are All You Need Is Love and Lennon's Give Peace A Chance. He added: "I've got all their names tattooed on me and even a picture of all four on my left leg."
He shares his home with daughter Melanie, 42, who named her son Paul McCartney. Her sister Caroline, also a Beatles fan, named her son Richard Lennon. John said: "I feel very blessed to have four fab grandchildren now."
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John says he listens to the Beatles for up to five hours a day (Tom Wren / SWNS)It comes as former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr revealed he was hoping to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity by releasing rare snaps of the band that he took almost 60 years ago while on tour. Shot in black-and-white and colour, Ringo 83, said: "We always had a professional photographer to take photos of us, but I just loved taking pictures and I still do."
Many long-lost snaps from his childhood, and life with John, Paul and George and manager Brian Epstein were discovered when Ringo opened boxes found in his late mum Elsie's Liverpool home. The photos were stored in an attic since her death in 1986.
He said: "It was like an Aladdin’s cave - a treasure trove of memories." The images include snaps of John Lennon and Paul McCartney recording at Abbey Road Studios and the first-ever photo of Ringo behind the drums at the Cavern in Liverpool - a venue the band would go on to play almost 300 times.