Singer James Morrison ‘devastated’ as partner Gill Catchpole found dead at family home aged 45
SINGER James Morrison’s partner Gill Catchpole has died aged 45.
Gill, the mum of their two daughters, was found dead at the family home in Whitminster, Gloucestershire on Friday.
British singer James, 39, has sold over seven million records and is famed for his cult hits You Give Me Something and Broken Strings.
He went on to have three more Top 10 albums, including two No1s, and won the Brit Award for Best British Male in 2007.
A family friend confirmed to The Sun that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Gill’s death and said James, was being comforted by family and friends.
A 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 star previously spoke of his pain of losing his dad, brother and nephew all within three years of each other.
James and Jill and the pair have two daughters, Elsie, 15, and five-year-old Ada.
The mum ran a successful café, called the Cotswold Sandwich Box, in the village the family lived in.
Locals described James and Gill as a “lovely couple”.
Gill’s café was closed on Saturday afternoon and police cars were seen outside.
A local added: “The whole village is in complete shock at what has happened.
“Gill was a lovely woman and they were a beautiful family.”
James met Gill after she moved into his mum’s home while he was still working to make it big in the industry.
COUPLE’S INSTANT ‘CONNECTION’
He recalled how she had come to live with them as a lodger with her then partner, before the pair fell in love.
James said he was learning all the songs from Stevie Wonder’s album Key Of Life when he first met Gill and tried to charm her by singing to her.
He said: “When she moved in, I started singing all the songs off that album to her.
“I was playing all of that stuff on the acoustic guitar. So it reminds me of when I met her and me just serenading the corridor hoping she’d pop out.”
Speaking in 2021, he added: “We just had a connection straight away really.
“But I had to wait two years to find out if what I thought I felt was real.
“Because I wasn’t going out with her for the first year or so she lived there.
“She was with her boyfriend, so I was getting to know her.
“And I didn’t want to tell her that I fell in love with her the first moment I set eyes on her because I didn’t know, I never fell in love before.
“So I didn’t really know if it was that.
“So it was like a massive moment for me to even tell her that I liked her.”
ALBUM FOR GILL
James and Gill welcomed Elsie in 2008 and Ada in 2018.
Speaking to The Sun in 2019, James revealed his album You’re Stronger Than You Know was inspired by Gill after their daughter Ada was born 13 weeks premature.
He said: “Thankfully I can look back and everything is sweet and rosy now.
“Ada-Rose has just turned one and is a normal, happy baby and Elsie, who’s now ten, is a great big sister.
“But when Gill’s waters broke and she was born so early and tiny, we didn’t know what was going to happen.
“That is probably the lowest I’ve ever been.
“That’s why now, looking back, I called the album You’re Stronger Than You Know, as Gill was amazing.”
He added: “The album title is for Gill as she’s been through so much as a woman and a mum knowing we could lose the baby at any point.
“But it’s brought us closer.
“I feel I can do anything after going through that.
“That’s what inspired this album and why now is the right time to make music again.”
James previously spoke about the pain he endured in his earlier life, after losing his dad, his brother and his nephew within just years of each other.
TRAGIC LOSS
His dad Paul was an alcoholic and died in 2010.
James said: “In the space of three years I lost my Dad, Paul, my big brother Alexis, who was 43, and my nephew Callum, who was only 21.
“Alexis and Callum died just a year apart. After my Dad died it was heartbreaking to start losing the next generations.”
Speaking about his father, James said: “Just afterwards I beat myself up feeling I should have done more to help him.
“But by the end he was a law unto himself.
“We were in regular contact during his final weeks.
“I was still telling him: ‘There’s still time. You can be a grandad to Elsie.’
“But he would just say: ‘I don’t need help.’
“The night he died from a heart attack, I was on tour.
“I’d left my mobile in the recording studio the night before and, when I collected it, it was packed with missed calls from my dad.
“No messages, just missed calls.
“Man, that was brutal.
“I’ll never know now what he wanted to say to me.”
James first broke into the music industry in 2006 with his triple-platinum debut album Undiscovered.
