Bo Bruce refused to take time off after her mother's death.

The star - who was the runner up on last year's series of 'The Voice' - was influenced by her passing and knew she would have wanted her daughter to continue working on her debut album 'Before I Sleep', which began shortly after her death.

She said: ''I did worry that all the grieving I was going through would end up in the songs. And who on earth would want to listen to that?

''But I couldn't take time off because it would have made mum cross. She was my strongest supporter, the only person who always believed I would make it in music.

''Lyrically, she's a looming presence, but not all of my songs are about her.''

Although Bo grew into her own style and is pleased with her individuality, she grew up with dreams of following in Gwen Stefani's footsteps.

She admitted to The Sunday Times newspaper's Culture magazine: ''As a kid, I used to sit in the woods and sing to escape everyone. When I was 15, I decided I wanted to be Gwen Stefani.

''Now I just want to sound like me, and I know I've achieved that with this album. At the moment, that's enough to make me happy.''