Singer John Newman and his mum on his brain tumour: 'I can bring awareness to the NHS and people who need help'

JOHN NEWMAN AND HIS MUM JACQUIE

Singer John and his mum Jacquie joined us to talk about his new single, The Fire In Me, pay tribute to friends he lost and his ongoing health battle as he lives with a brain tumour. John was first being diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2012.

He had radiotherapy in 2016 after the tumour returned and was discovered to have cancerous cells but John is unable to have it removed because the growth is currently too small to be operated on.

'I really have got a positive mindset,' John said. 'The positivity of losing my friends, bless them, it actually made me the musician I am. Before I was making tunes to sing to girls down the phone to impress them. It made me make music that needed to bleed, that was raw. It was a positive thing. Then when you get a brain tumour on top of that, you're like, "Right, this is life, you need to crack on and keep going forward".'

'I was doing an interview and I said I'd still got the brain tumour,' John added. 'I went to see the surgeon and they'd done an MRI and she said it hasn't grown at all after a year. I genuinely think it's due to a positive mindset. I'm in a situation where I can take full advantage to bring awareness to the NHS, the people who need help for this and bring a positivity to anyone who is struggling.'

'You have to push it to the back of your mind else it's take over,' Jacquie said. 'Literally,' John added.

And they talked about their close bond too.

Asked when she first noticed John had a talent for music, Jacquie replied, 'Probably when he was about 15' before John interjected, 'About 10 minutes ago!' 'His report said, "He might sing like an angel but he is no angel",' Jacquie added.

'I still don't think I'm very good, I just like making music,' John said. 'Technically I don't think I'm that great. My brother has a great technical voice and says he can sing better than me. He actually can because he can technically singer better than me but he hasn't got what I've got.'

Watch the video for the full chat with John and Jacquie.