Ever since Croydon boy Jonathan Gill – better known as JLS’s JB – was a toddler, his mum Cynthia knew that he was good at music.
“He was one year old: we bought him a toy with a xylophone, drums, all kinds of instruments and he absolutely loved it,” she said. “I thought: ‘Oh, this guy’s into music’.”
Little did Cynthia know that JB would grow up to be a major pop star in one of the biggest UK boy bands of the 2000s and 2010s, coming second on hit TV show The X Factor and winning handfuls of BRIT and MOBO Awards.
JB started on the recorder in junior school and “took off”, progressing onto the flute. He was also in the choir at primary school and has “always been into music”, his mum said.
However, his music career almost didn’t happen. “When he started secondary school, that’s when he started playing rugby,” Cynthia said. “He was really good at rugby, he was in the first team, and it took over his life. He put music to one side and there was a focus on sport for a few years.”
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