Elvis karaoke singer All Shook Up for 43 hours

Sam Stephens performed songs by Elvis Presley from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon

A man from north Devon has raised more than £5,000 for charity by attempting to perform the longest Elvis-themed karaoke.

Sam Stephens, from Bideford, stepped up to the microphone on Thursday evening and sung tracks by the King of Rock and Roll for 43 hours and 20 minutes.

He was raising funds for the North Devon charity ChemoHero in honour of his late father-in-law, Phil "Brockabilly" Brock, who died from cancer in 2020.

After surpassing the official record of 43 hours and 11 minutes, set in 2004, he said: "Luckily I had witnesses there who got me through it and pushed me on."

Mr Stephens began his challenge at 18:40 BST at the Pollyfield Community Centre in Bideford and finished on Saturday afternoon at 14:15.

He was allowed to take a five minute break each hour, or bank the five minute chunks for a longer break.

Local musician Phil 'Brockabilly' Brock died from cancer in late 2020

"I took two 15 minute naps before 6pm on the Friday evening and then powered through to 5am on Saturday morning," he told BBC Radio Devon.

"It's amazing how a short nap can revive you."

'Proper send-off'

Mr Stephens described Brockabilly as a very popular local music artist, who himself specialised in performing the music of Elvis Presley.

"He did shows throughout North Devon and did lots of charity events and weddings.

"Unfortunately he was diagnosed with cancer just before the November 2020 lockdown and suddenly passed away.

"So that meant we couldn't make the funeral a proper send-off."

After Mr Stephens completed the challenge, friends, family, and local musicians gathered for a "remembrance night of music" in honour of Brockabilly.

The money raised will help fund ChemoHero's "box of kindness" scheme, which it gives to every chemotherapy patient at North Devon District Hospital.