BLACKBURN-born Lillian Towers brought out her first pop record in 1962 – after her two sons heard her singing in the kitchen.

The two lads, Philip, 13, and Tom, 11, thought she sounded as good as the stars they heard on the radio and wrote off to a record company.

The result was that Mary May, as she was otherwise known, cut her first disc ‘Listen, All You Lovers’, which was specially written by Jerry Lorden, who was then writing for The Shadows. It meant a long list of engagements for the 38-year-old, including TV shows, broadcasts and personal appearances.

Lillian started her singing career in the choir at St Philip’s Church, Blackburn and, with a group of friends, formed a concert group giving charity shows. Thousands of young jitterbug fans also danced and twisted to her voice when she sang with a band at local dance halls. She married a Blackburn musician, Tommy Sanderson, but gave up singing when her family came along. Lillian was brought up in Scar Street, Witton. Her mum was Lilly Towers and she had two brothers, James and Craig.