08 January 2024 , 12:45
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James Morrison had a tough start in life and is now facing the devastating blow of losing his beloved partner of two decades.
The Broken Strings singer, 39, has been left heartbroken after his partner Gill Catchpole reportedly died at the age of 45 on Friday. She was found dead at the family home, a source said, and there are no suspicious circumstances around her passing.
The source said: "Gill was found dead on Friday at the family's home in Whitminster. James is devastated and is being supported by his family. He is holding it together for their girls but has asked for the family to be left alone to grieve in private." The couple share two daughters, Elsie, 15, and Ada, five.
Just like their father, who almost died four times as a youngster, both girls were born prematurely in horrifying circumstances. Their first, Elsie, was born prematurely by emergency C-section with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
James and Gill share two children; daughters Elsie and Ada (DAILY MIRROR)
Singer-songwriter James shot to fame in 2006 (Getty Images)And youngest Ada – born 13 weeks early – was touch and go after weighing in at just 1lb 11oz in a terrifying birth in which they thought they would lose Gill then too. Speaking to the Mirror in 2019, James revealed that he clung to hope after surviving his own nightmare birth.
Singer James Morrison's heartbreak as partner, 45, found dead at home
"I technically died four times," explained James, who rose to stardom in 2006 with his hit single You Give Me Something and was named Best British Male at the Brit Awards the following year. "I stopped breathing because of all the coughing and lack of oxygen.
"Also, my heart stopped so they had to resuscitate me. They said if I did pull through I’d be brain damaged. The doctors told my mum to turn the machine off. Instead, she got a priest to come to the hospital to pray, and she prayed too. I was in hospital for six months and I don’t know how I pulled through – but luckily I’m here."
James believes his trademark husky voice is due to a node on his vocal cords caused from all the coughing – and he has a deviated septum from wearing an oxygen mask for so long so young. "It just means a bent nose," he laughed. "I’m definitely susceptible to coughs and colds too. And I haven’t got a big breath."
He remembered his lucky escape as he and Gill, whom he fell for at 17, were expecting their first daughter in 2008. "Her heartbeat started fluctuating and the doctors were worried. It all happened quickly and it was so stressful," said James.
"Elsie didn’t cry for a while after they pulled her out and I was paranoid something was wrong. I was so relieved when we knew she was OK. Elsie was 4lbs 3oz and when I saw her I thought she was the smallest baby I’d ever seen.
"She and Gill were in hospital for about a week and a half, as Gill had problems with pre-eclampsia. It was only when we got her home it sank in that everyone was all right."
Ada had a traumatic birth
James has previously spoken about his love and admiration for his partner Gill (Joanne Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)The couple tried to conceive again for several years – suffering two early miscarriages, which was "really difficult" for the couple. But when they managed to get pregnant with Ada, they were overjoyed. But it again came with its complications.
"We had hospital visits four times a week to have checks on Gill’s blood pressure and kidneys because one works at 35 percent, so the baby wasn’t getting as much protein as it needed," he said. "Gill suffers with anxiety, so my role as dad was to keep positive, but I used to cry on my own.
"Then she went into labour 13 weeks early. It was so scary. Her waters had broken three weeks before on Christmas Eve, so Gill spent two weeks in hospital so the baby could be monitored.
"Those three weeks were the worst. The first week they said there was only a 10 percent chance of Ada surviving, but by the third week it was up to 85-90 percent. We were told her eyelids hadn’t developed so they were worried she might be blind and also there was a high chance she’d be deaf, have cerebral palsy or a chronic lung problem.
James Morrison 'never felt in love' before meeting late partner Gill Catchpole
"I somehow had this sense she’d be all right because I suppose that’s all I could believe to get through." Ada wasn’t the only person James had to worry about, as Gill had an emergency C-section again because Ada was breach - but then had to have a blood transfusion after the doctors cut through the placenta.
"Gill almost died because her blood pressure went so low her heart nearly stopped," he recalled. "Gill said, ‘I’m going’, and there were tears in her eyes. I was a mess. But after the transfusion, her blood pressure went back up quickly. When we got back to the ward I let all my emotion out. Gill was my hero.
"I’m still so in awe of how she got through it. She’s my rock. I’ve known her since I was playing open mic bars and was a van cleaner. I could never replace her." Ada was in hospital for three months with chronic lung disease and a hole in her heart, while Gill remained in hospital for six weeks.
When Ada was allowed home, she still needed oxygen for several weeks. "Taking her home was amazing, just experiencing life as a family together," James tragically recalled.
James previously opened up about fatherhood and explained that becoming a dad to Elsie soon after his own father had passed away changed his outlook on life. He told OK! Magazine: "Just before he died my first daughter, Elsie, was born. So in a way her birth helped me think more about life.
"I then tried to focus on my music in a bid to pull me out of it. I began to write new songs, most of them were quite personal, which talked about my dad - so that was cathartic. Becoming a father changed the way I looked at life. Because I knew I needed to be there for my daughter. That helped me out of the dark times."
Meanwhile, Ada's traumatic start in life inspired his 2019 album, You're Stronger Than You Know, which reached number 14 in the charts. It was "to remind both Gill and I how tough we were through that time," he explained.
The star shot to fame in 2006 with the release of his debut single, You Give Me Something. He previously spoke about the meaning behind the song and how he came up with the lyrics. Talking to in 2015, he said: “The progression in the verse [had] a few subtle changes. I was saying something like, ‘Will you stay with me in the morning, will you hold me in the morning’ to make it more harsh like you’ve got to work to get the love. I think that was the key that kind of turned the song around, really, the reluctance in giving away nice comments in the song."
The top 5 song was from his number 1 album, Undiscovered, and he went on to release the number 3 album Songs for You, Truths for Me in 2008, and the number 1 album The Awakening in 2011. His next album, 2015's Higher Than Here, reached number 7.