Jesse Rivers

The character of Jesse Rivers is currently played by multi-award winning artiste, Paul Grant-Reason*

Jesse’s journey towards paying homage to Neil Diamond started way back in his childhood. His late father was a huge fan and went to see Neil himself at Woburn Abbey in 1977.

“I had the silver greatest hits album as a kid. Long before I started getting into playing guitar and rock music, it was just something about those amazing songs and the way Neil conveyed them that spoke to me. There was just a beautiful directness about the way Neil sang and his perfectly crafted Lyrics.”

As a natural Baritone like Neil, Jesse realised that while he had been working hard on his vocals professionally, he’d also managed to evolve a real depth to his voice. Just for fun he tried singing a few songs that were such a big part of this childhood.

With every inflection of Neil’s unique voice firmly ingrained in his soul, the results were nothing short of miraculous. This gave Jesse a huge feeling of satisfaction and the connection to his father, who also loved the songs so much.

Jesse put together a short video of him singing Neil Diamond songs and the response from Neil Diamond fans worldwide, was nothing short of phenomenal. “Everybody was so encouraging, I was astounded. It was at that very moment that I knew I’d found the very thing that I truly wanted to do.”

“I am so excited about the future with Hello Again. Even after winning several awards worldwide, including 2017 Best Male Tribute and appearing on ITV’s Star’s in Their Eyes, landing the principal role in The World’s Greatest Celebration of The Life & Work of Neil Diamond is a dream come true for me.”

“Neil’s music is timeless, it touches people and I know how important his music is to everybody. I cannot wait for you to see my portrayal of the great man himself and very much look forward to meeting you all”