Simon Cowell has lead tributes to late X Factor contestant Kerry McGregor following her death from
cancer.The Scottish singer, who appeared on the TV talent show in 2006, lost her battle with the disease aged just 37.
The wheelchair-bound singer and actress was first diagnosed with bladder cancer two years ago.
But
it was thought she was beating the killer disease after undergoing
three months of gruelling chemotherapy which almost left her deaf.
The singer leaves a son, Joshua, seven, with property developer partner Dean Robertson, 36.
The
mother-of-one had been spurred on by messages of support from her X
Factor mentor Sharon Osbourne and Britain's Got Talent (BGT) star Susan
Boyle, who hailed her as an inspiration in her autobiography.
Last
night, it was revealed that Kerry and Miss Boyle were about to go into
the studio together to record a duet until the project was halted just
days ago by the former's ill health.
Kerry, of Pumpherston, West
Lothian - who broke her back in a fall when she was 13 - was diagnosed
with cancer in September 2010 after suffering two years of stomach
pains.
When details of her illness were first made public in April
last year, she said: 'It was small cell cancer, one of the
fastest-spreading. I wasn't surprised. The fight is long, but I want to
live. I've got so much more to give.'
However, last night, a brief
statement from her management company said: 'It is with deep sadness we
announce that Kerry passed away at home, earlier today following a
battle with cancer. At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with her
family and friends.'
Her manager, Ewan Gallagher, said: 'This is a
desperately sad time for all Kerry's friends and family. She was such a
gifted singer and song-writer. She left more than 40 of her own songs
unrecorded at her death.
'And she had forged a close friendship with Susan Boyle, who became very attached to Kerry because both are from West Lothian.
'Susan wrote in her autobiography that Kerry's appearance on X Factor was what gave her the courage to appear on BGT.
'The
pair were about to record a duet of Wings To Fly, which has only
appeared as a bonus track on an album released by Susan in Japan. I'm
sure it would have been a huge hit and the words have such poignancy. I
don't know what will happen with that project now.'
Born in 1974
into a musical family - her late grandfather, Bobby McKerracher, was
known as 'the Scottish Bing Crosby' – Kerry was aged five when her
father was killed in a road crash.
Raised by her mother, Margaret,
also a talented singer, she showed early promise as a gymnast at West
Calder High School before she fell from a tree aged 13 and broke her
back, leaving her partially paralysed from the waist down.
Determined
to remain in mainstream schooling, she re-learnt how to walk with
crutches and leg braces in just six weeks, earning a Child of
Achievement Award.
Of her disability, she once said: 'Life changed
completely for me from an early age. In some people's eyes it could be a
hindrance but in my eyes it's not. If anything, it gives me all the
more reason to kick my heels in and go on. I am determined and I will
achieve.'
After studying music and drama at Jewel and Esk Valley
College in Edinburgh, she formed the dance band Nexus in 1993 before
leaving to join QFX, whose album Freedom reached Number 21 in the UK
charts.
Talent spotted by Kenny MacDonald, manager of The
Proclaimers, she was selected to record a song for the UK´s entry for
the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997, coming second to Katrina and the
Waves, who went on to win Eurovision with Love Shine a Light.
In
2006, Kerry secured her biggest break after making the finals of series
three of The X Factor, which was eventually won by future Grammy award
nominee Leona Lewis.
She managed to last until Week 3, when she was voted off by Louis Walsh.
Kerry later concentrated on her acting career and songwriting and had more than 40 songs still unrecorded at her death.
As
an actress, she performed on stage, radio and television productions,
with notable appearances as Carol-Ann in Annie Griffin's Channel 4
series The Book Group, and in the award-winning BBC children's drama
series Grange Hill.
Last month, she accepted a role as an
ambassador with Action for Bladder Cancer (ABC), the UK's only charity
dedicated to fighting bladder cancer, the fourth most common cancer in
men and 11th most common in women with around 10,000 Britons diagnosed
with the disease every year.
Colin Bunce, chair of Action on
Bladder Cancer, said: 'We are deeply saddened by the news about Kerry.
She was a truly inspirational person and we were delighted when, before
Christmas, she accepted our invitation to become an Ambassador for
Action on Bladder Cancer.
'She was deeply committed to helping
raise awareness about bladder cancer and our thoughts are very much with
her family at this time.'
JERUSALEM
(AP) -- When it comes to stating its case internationally, Israel is
tired of playing it straight: It is 
