Young Wakefield drummer given the thumbs up by Take That’s Gary Barlow and Mark Owen

Alex Hemingway from Ryhill is just 12 years-old and has been learning the drums since he was just 6.

Due to his mother’s love for the boy band, he has been learning all of their tracks and posted videos online of his performances.

And after his mother Sharon put them on Instagram and Twitter, Gary Barlow has twice responded.

In October he told his 4 million Twitter followers that Alex was “amazing”, then earlier this month said “what a talent” in reference to one of his videos.

Bandmate Mark Owen took to Instagram to comment on his drum work, while ITV’s Ant and Dec also re-Tweeted Alex’s video of him drumming along to the I’m a Celebrity theme tune in December saying: “Love this! Great work Alex!”

Alex’s mother Sharon said: “He’s really proud to get the responses, he practices every day, and we love him doing it.

“He’d love to meet those stars - some of the comments he has been getting are gorgeous.”

Alex, who attends Crofton Academy and Mike’s Drumming School in Wakefield , was inspired to pick up the sticks by his uncle, Anthony Oxley, who was a Drum major in the Yorkshire Regiment but sadly died in a motorbike accident in 2016.

Sharon added: “He was inspired by his uncle, and because of his drumming he wanted to take it up.

“At his funeral Alex’s eyes lit up when he saw the drummers. He wanted to learn the marching tune.

“He was totally inspired, and he has got a natural rhythm. He’s been going to lessons since he was eight and he’s working through his exams.

“He takes it really seriously and people who listen to him say he’s gifted.

“When he zones in on a track in 24 hours he can knock out the tune.”