THE Blackburn-born mother of Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay has bowed gracefully out of showbusiness to avoid spoiling his spiralling "street cred".

Once-famous impressionist, singer and actress Karen Kay refuses to give interviews about her son, who was also born in the town and christened Jason.

But she joined millions of fans to watch the acid-Jazz singer make the transition from British pop icon to international superstar at the Brit Awards. He wowed American soul diva Diana Ross during a duet, despite admitting he was nervous about the performance.

The event was a far cry from the limelight Karen herself craved as a wannabe star on an improvised stage at the cotton mill near her childhood home in Emerald Street, Blackburn.

Karen, who later became regular at the Starlight Club, Little Harwood, was tipped as The Face of 1979. She worked alongside Lenny Henry and David Copperfield on a series entitled Six Of A Kind, which eventually hit TV screens as Three Of A Kind - without her. An agent with the London Management Company, which once represented Karen, said: "She was a super lady but times change and she realised that there was no longer a call for her type of work.

"She was happy with what she had achieved and happy to slip out of the limelight.

"Many people have asked for interviews about her son and she has refused them all. She and her son now have a fantastic relationship but I think she decided she did not want to rock the boat for Jason and spoil his street cred. She is very proud of him."

Karen, who was born in Blackburn Infirmary, now lives in London.

Known to fans simply as Jay, her son moved with his mother and step-father Mervyn Kay to Manchester as a youngster. He has never met his natural father.

Jay's agent Dave Woolf says he then spent the majority of his early years travelling the world.

He added: "He moved around so much because of his mother's singing career.

"The place he stayed the longest was Ealing, in London." The affection they now share was temporarily put on hold when Karen threw Jason out after a row. He both blames her for the incident and appreciates her actions for sparking his creativity.

She later gladly attended his sell-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

But these only came after a period of homelessness which only ended when he started to make his mark in music.

It is five years since Jamiroquai - named after a musical jam and the Iroquois, an American Indian tribe - hit the big time.

In that time their albums, Emergency On Planet Earth, Return Of The Space Cowboy and Virtual Insanity, have sold almost four million copies.

The band formed in 1992 and created a massive underground buzz with the classic When You Gonna Learn, initially released on the independent Acid Jazz label. The track went on to spawn a music genre of its own.

A bidding war among major labels ended up with Sony Music handing over an eight album deal.

Jay's mum enjoyed some success in her entertainment career but fate has been even kinder to 28-year-old Jay, who boasts a string of Italian sports cars and supermodel girlfriend Tamsin Greenhill. The dude in the hat's latest coup has been to land the contract to produce a theme tune for ITV's new Grand Prix programme.

Karen Kay, real name Judith Adrienne Pringle, was born in Parsonage Road, Blackburn, and also lived in Emerald Street at Brownhill. Her grandparents, who were called Hesmondhalgh, ran the White Bull in Ribchester.

Her mother, Ethel Pringle, died when she was small and she was adopted by a family in Preston after a brief spell with the family of her cousin, Margaret Tomlinson, who lives in Parsonage Road.

However, Margaret and her cousin Allan Pemberton, 61, of Emerald Street, do not keep in touch with the former star.

Mr Pemberton said: "I know nothing about Jason and I haven't heard of Jamiroquai. I didn't realise I had such a famous member of my family. I watched a little bit of the Brit Awards and then turned it off because it was getting on my nerves."

But the clues about Karen's future star of a son were apparent in an interview she gave to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in 1983.

"He's a performer by nature," she said. "Sometimes I put my head in my hands and say: 'Oh, God, he's not going to turn out like me, is he?'

"I went to see him a school play the other day, and he was well over the top. I cringed - and later, when I was making polite conversation with his teachers, he came over and started showing off something rotten. I suppose it's my fault really."

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