WHEN you are starting out in the music business having a mentor can make all the difference.

But being given words of advice from Bee Gees legend Robin Gibb proved to be bittersweet for a Lymm singer.

Ellie Dibben met the singer, songwriter and record producer the summer before he died in May 2012.

The pair met when Robin was in the audience for one of her first public performances at a fundraiser for The Heritage Foundation.

He was impressed and invited her to sing at his garden party in Oxfordshire.

"I think we just clicked. We just took to each other," said Ellie, aged 16.

"He was probably one of the most humble people I have met in my life. You wouldn’t think he’s had the past that he’s had and the career that he’s had.

"He told me to work hard on my GCSEs but mainly he said to keep going with my music. I remember him saying: ‘You sound this good now. I can’t wait to hear what you’re 16, 17 or 18.

"It’s a bit sad really because he can’t."

You get the sense that Robin would be proud if he was still here today.

Earlier this month, the young singer-songwriter performed at the O2 for the Country2Country Festival which was headlined by Lady Antebellum.

"I didn’t really believe it at first," added the former Lymm High School pupil.

"I thought surely I’m not performing at the O2. I think it finally sunk in two minutes before I went on stage."

Ellie, who also recently sang at the EastEnders Awards Dinner, was on one of the pop up stages called the Music Mile.

She said: "It was a bit crazy. Even though I wasn’t on the main stage I was thinking tonight maybe Lady Antebellum’s going to be there and people like Luke Bryan were there the night before.

"I took home a 6ft tall board with all with all the artists’ names on it. It felt strange that my name was on the same bill as them."

Ellie, who has performed at the Americana International Festival for three years running, sang four of her own songs as well as three Taylor Swift covers, Fearless, Mean and White Horse.

She added: "I’ve had quite a few tweets from people saying they can’t get my songs out of their head. To think they’ve gone away and are singing my songs is really nice."

Ellie was talent spotted after recording Taylor Swift's Crazier at Orchard Studios in Crewe. A studio experience was bought for her as an 11th birthday present but the session took on a life of its own.

She said: "I don’t know how it got there but that ended up being played on BBC Radio. I became this little 11-year-old sensation which I never really understood."

Among those who heard the track was American singer P. J. Proby who got her a place to perform at a Heritage Foundation party and has worked with her since.

Ellie added: "There was a lot of doubt about me at first because I was an 11-year-old girl. I think they thought I was going to sing about butterflies and rainbows but they took to me quite quickly."

She followed that up the next year with a performance at the Underage Festival with Jessie J, Rizzle Kicks and Ms Dynamite at Victoria Park in London.

And last April she opened for The X Factor's Luke Friend at the Pyramid.

"That gig was amazing," Ellie said.

"I like his music because it is more acoustic and suits my style. We hope to work together again. I’ve kept in good contact with him and I know he’s got a small tour coming up sometime this year.

"We want to do a duet but we’re not sure if that’s going to be possible because of management issues."

Ellie's mum Carolyn probably knew she was destined to be a star from an early age.

She added: "I used to make up my own nursery rhymes. I remember sitting on the grass at home singing songs to the birds.

"I’ve always loved singing and I used to sit in the little study room with my mum’s laptop blasting out Taylor Swift and trying to sing along."

DAVID MORGAN