What happens to a tribute act when a pop icon dies? 

Welcome to the world of tribute acts, who get paid to enjoy plenty of glamorous perks while belting out ready-made hits (Picture: Laura Jane Butler/Paula Swann Photography/David Boakes)

There’s a select group of people who live popstar lifestyles. They travel the world and perform to an adoring fandom… but there’s just only little catch – they’re not actually popstars.

Welcome to the world of tribute acts, who get paid to enjoy plenty of glamorous perks while belting out ready-made hits. There’s never any pressure tocome up with new songs and they don’t even have to handle the stress of actually being famous.

For many aspiring rock stars it’s the ideal job – but what happens to their careers when their inspiration passes away? 

Here, Metro speaks to ‘Whitney’, ‘Amy’, ‘Michael’ and ‘Freddie’ to find out more…

‘A medium told me Amy thinks I’m doing a good job’ 

Laura Jane Butler has played Amy Winehouse since 2008.

When Laura Jane started working as an Amy Winehouse tribute, she says she was her agent’s busiest act (Picture: Pawel Spolnicki)

‘Just after the album Back to Black came out in 2006 I was giving blood and the lady doing it said, “You look just like Amy”.

When I saw her on TV my jaw dropped; it was like looking at myself. I was already working as a singer and spoke to my agent at the time about working as an Amy tribute act. He was adamant I wouldn’t get any work but within a year I was his busiest tribute act. Her album going to number one and the Grammy win meant everyone wanted a bit of me.

But I also lost work when things weren’t going well for her and people would say stupid stuff like “Have you taken your drugs?” at gigs.

Whenever she was on telly I would will Amy to get better. I wanted her to do well, carry on with her career, and shine.

Laura Jane has performed with Amy’s dad Mitch (Picture: Pawel Spolnicki)

Eventually, she did get better, so it was such a shock when she died [of alcohol poisoning] in 2011. I was on a Mediterian cruise performing as Amy when a friend phoned to tell me and it was like a member of the family had died. I am Jewish and Amy was part of the Jewish community – she was our girl. I bawled my eyes out.

It hit me on a personal, professional and spiritual level and I didn’t come out of the cabin for half a day. I was supposed to perform as her that night, but the contract got stopped and I did a Cher show instead, which was my other act.

I did six more contracts on different cruises, all as Cher, but six months later I went back to Amy. I respectfully perform her songs and don’t pretend I’m Amy. I talk about her and encourage people to celebrate her life and music.

A few months after Amy died, I met a medium at a birthday party and asked her how it all worked. She explained that spirits have to choose to talk to people, not the other way around.

I forgot about the conversation until 18 months later, I got a call from the medium saying she had a message from Amy. I broke down when she told me: “You’re in the right light, keep doing what you’re doing.” It blew me away that I had her support.

I met Mitch and Amy’s mum at a fundraising event for the Amy Winehouse Foundation when it was first set up – after that, we soon became friends.

Laura with Amy’s mum Janice, she has worked with the family to raise money for the Amy Winehouse Foundation (Picture: Supplied)

I can often feel Amy, mainly when her mum, Janice, is in the room. She’s there when I talk about her. When I sing I can sense her presence.

I’ve had a wonderful career because of her. I’ve been all around the world and the crowd still love the shows — Tears Dry on Their Own and Valerie always get the room going.

I’m blessed with a fantastic band made up of London’s finest jazz musicians and we have earned admiration from Amy’s family, friends and fans, which is the finest honour.’

‘People accuse tribute artists of profiting from death’

45-year-old Nya King from Worcestershire became a tribute after Whitney Houston’s death in 2012.

Nya never thought she could make a living as a Whitney Houston tribute act (Picture: Paula Swann Photography)

‘The first time I ever heard Whitney, I was eight years old and I Wanna Dance With Somebody came on the radio. I hugged the speaker to hear the voice more — I was amazed.

Her songs helped me when I came to the UK from Zimbabwe in 1997 when I had to adjust to a new culture, a new country, new everything. I would have Whitney on repeat. Like me, Whitney was a church girl, and she connected to my spiritual life.

In Zimbabwe at that time, society did not see being an entertainer as a “proper job”, so I ended up as a psychiatric nurse here in the UK for almost a decade, only performing at gigs in little pubs and clubs after my shift, where I would sing a couple of Whitney songs.

Nya says that Whitney’s music carried her through a lot of things (Picture: Supplied)

The night she passed away, I had just finished a gig in Stoke-on-Trent and my sister sent me an urgent text to check the news. I thought it was some sick joke. Her voice was the soundtrack to my life, so it was a real shock.

Quickly bookers and audiences alike would request more and more of Whitney’s songs at my gigs, and I was only happy to oblige.

It was a joy sharing in the nostalgia with fellow fans. When people first suggested I do a tribute to her, I refused. It felt far too daunting and I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to do Whitney’s legacy justice, but my fans, friends, and agent all said I should do it.

Eventually, in 2023, I decided to give it a go and performed my first gig as her at a hotel. I was so scared and remember pacing up and down backstage beforehand.

As I got on stage and began to sing, I shut my eyes and tried to control the tears. When I finished there was silence and then massive applause! I opened my eyes and people were cheering. All I could think was, “I didn’t massacre it?” Whitney fans are very loyal and would tell you to your face if you had.

Since that day, I have been blessed with a lot of work and I’m very grateful. I have sung on the top deck underneath the starry night in the middle of the sea on a Caribbean cruise, and private clients have called me to Gibraltar and Oman. High-class hotels have flown me all over the world.

Performing as Whitney has allowed Nya to travel the world (Picture: Paula Swann Photography)

You do get nasty comments online sometimes like: “You’re profiting from her death” – tribute artists hear that a lot. People also say: “It’s almost better when they die isn’t it,” which is a terrible thing to think. We just want to remember and keep the legacy alive.’

‘I remember looking into the audience and seeing people in floods of tears’

33-year-old David Boakes from Norfolk has performed as Michael Jackson since he was five.

David was approached by an entertainment agency when he was performing as Michael Jackson in a North London club (Picture: Supplied)

‘I was obsessed with Michael Jackson as a kid. My mum had the Moonwalker film on video which I played and rewound over and over again until the VHS got chewed up in the machine.

I copied his dance routine and even had a little MJ wig that my mum made me, so I could dress up and perform at school summer fetes. I loved it and everyone found it hilarious.

I was 16 and performing as MJ at a north London nightclub when I was approached by an entertainment agency, that said I could make money. I got signed up and started doing gigs straight away. It became my bread and butter.

At that time, [sexual abuse] allegations had been made against Michael, but it didn’t negatively impact demand – if anything, it was the opposite. He was in the news again and people wanted to see the shows.

When Michael passed away, David says it was as if a family member had died (Picture: Supplied)

When Michael died in 2009, I woke up to hundreds of missed calls and texts. I thought it was a dream, I was just devastated, as it came out of the blue.

The time around his death was really weird. For me as a fan, it was so hard, but the phone was ringing off the hook because it felt like every single person in the country wanted a Michael Jackson tribute act.

We played quite a few shows, and would always end the set with Man in the Mirror. I would look out in the audience and could see floods of tears. Everyone was so sad.

David has performed for Michael’s brothers (Picture: Supplied)

In 2015, I met Michael’s brothers Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Marlon in a secret location, after a friend of mine spoke to their manager about me.

I went as myself out of respect as it didn’t feel right to turn up as their brother who had passed away. I did a little dance for them which they applauded — they were so nice and supportive.

Because of the allegations, one minute Michael is the worst person in the world and the next minute he’s the best.

From my point of view – he’s completely innocent of the charges. I wouldn’t put on the hat, wig and glasses if I thought any different.’

‘Freddie Mercury’s mum told Brian May I reminded him of her son’ 

46-year-old Joseph Lee Jackson, from Wakefield, has been performing as Freddie Mercury since 1998.

Joseph auditioned to join the band Mercury after seeing an advert in Stage magazine (Picture: Mercury/Alex Williams)

‘I was only nine when I first saw Freddie perform in 1985. It was the Live Aid concert and I remember being mesmerised by Freddie and how he could bring thousands of people together.

When he died in 1991 it was a big shock to the world and I was sad. The day after, a Queen concert was put on TV. I recorded it on VHS, just because I loved them, but seven years later, I repeatedly watched it to prepare for my first performance as Freddie.

I’d responded to an advert in Stage magazine from the Queen tribute act Mercury, who were looking for a frontman. I beat 35 other people to the role.

Freddie has such a high and powerful voice so you have to prepare to sustain it over a two-hour period. It took me six months of training to get my voice perfect, as I had to build the vocal cords up.

Joseph says that when Freddie Mercury died the world lost a legend (Picture: Mercury)

Not only do I get to sing wonderful songs on a nightly basis but I get to visit wonderful places as well including Dubai, Ibiza, and Holland.

Back in 2001, we were in Mallorca, performing at an end-of-season regatta and Roger Taylor, Queen’s drummer, was there and enjoyed it. We spoke to him backstage and he was intrigued by what we were doing and how popular the tribute band was.

A year later, I was in Nottingham, and I spur-of-the-moment knocked on the door of Freddie’s sister Kash’s — the family assumed they were incognito in Nottingham, but everyone knew where they lived.

Freddie’s brother-in-law Roger Cooke answered and I introduced myself before explaining that we were doing a gig in Newark. I invited them along, leaving him with my phone number on a flyer.

Mercury with Freddie’s mum, Jer (Picture: Mercury)

A couple of days later, Roger called and said the family would be coming. True to their word, Kash, Roger and Freddie’s mum Jer all showed up. They said the show and how it brought so many happy memories back for them. After that, whenever we were playing locally they would come and see us.

Joseph says he remained friends with Freddie’s family for years (Picture: Mercury/Alex Williams)

In 2009 we were asked to perform by Jer in Feltham. There was a Hollywood-type star being installed to celebrate where Freddie’s family had based themselves when they came over from Zanzibar. Brian May came along and we spoke to him for a long time, which was quite surreal.

There was me in a Freddie costume with the yellow jacket standing with Brian and Freddie’s family. Jer said to Brian: “He reminds me of my Freddie”. I felt out of place as it was such a private moment, but it was a real privilege to be sat there with them.

I remained friends with the family for years until Jer sadly passed away in 2016. It was always a great honour to have her in the audience as she not only wanted to see people enjoying our rendition of Queen but also loved to hear her son’s music live again.’

A version of this article was first published in February 2022.