VIOLA Beach's frontman did not just set his own trend with music, he did it with fashion as well.

Kris Leonard's family said they will always remember his infectious personality and talent as a songwriter but also the unique way he dressed as well.

His mum Lisa said: "He used to wear women’s clothes. I was in the kitchen last year and he said: ‘I’m going out’ and I turned around and he had a full length leopard skin fur coat on "The people he was surrounded by started taking on his fashion too. He started wearing odd socks at the age of 15 so everybody wore odd socks."

Lisa's partner Damian Hartley added: "He’s not just set a fashion in music he’s also set a fashion in clothing.

"He wouldn’t shop anywhere else other than charity shops. If you gave him a new shirt he wouldn’t wear it."

Lisa and Damian met the Warrington Guardian on Tuesday to pay tribute to Kris.

"I thought the world of him," said Lisa, 43.

"He was an amazing son and an amazing big brother to his sister Charlotte who’s eight.

"I suppose for the majority of his life I was both mum and dad to him so I’ve lost a big part of me."

Kris had been heavily into music since he was 14 and he was in the Warrington bands Outside In and The Vox before he formed Viola Beach with his childhood friend Jack Dakin.

Lisa said: "He loved music. He loved laughing and he was very passionate about his friends.

"Just recently I gave Kristian and the band my house in Grappenhall to live in and we said it was going to be like MTV Cribs.

"I bought them a pinny as they liked to cook. His girlfriend Negin said they could make a meal out of anything because they were so poor."

Lisa said she has found a small measure of comfort in the fact that Kris was following his dream when he died on Saturday.

She added: "I have had tremendous support from people and I can’t thank them enough for their kind words.

"Kristian didn’t want to die. He was so young but I think he would say: 'I’ve made an impact on the world and that’s what I wanted to do'.

"Negin said she could turn her back on him for 10 minutes and he had written a whole song in that time. He’s written hundreds of songs in a black book.

"He was a special man and he touched the hearts of so many people. I’m so proud of my son and I can’t believe he’s gone.

"He was only 20 last week and his presents are still on his bed."

Damian also said Kris was tireless when it came to getting his music heard far and wide.

He said: "Reading and Leeds Festival was the big thing which started it off. But then they were going down to Sheffield at 3am to play a concert at the uni.

"I don’t know how he stayed awake but he played wherever he could to get his music out. He never winged one bit about it.

"The next thing he’s with the Courteeners and Blossoms on tour."

But it seemed that Kris, who also loved basketball and football, wanted fortune but not fame from his music.

"He's been recognised with me in Sainsbury's," added Lisa, who lives with Damian in Padgate.

"But he didn’t want to be in the public eye. He wanted to write music and be in his room with his Xbox.

"At the same time, He told me he was going to have a house in Milan, a house in Iran, where Negin’s from, and a house in Los Angeles."

Kris died along with band members River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin and manager Craig Tarry when their car plunged more than 82ft from a highway bridge into a canal near Stockholm, Sweden.

"I’d do anything to see him and hold him again," said Lisa.

"I’m not a religious person but I felt this urge to go to a church so we went to St Peter’s.

"The priest came out and spoke to me and let me go into the church and pray and we lit five candles and I felt at peace.

"Jack’s mum has given me a lot of strength. They went together and we hope it was quick. They were doing something they loved.

"In the last picture they were smiling. They didn’t suffer terminal disease. He’s never going to know the pain of marriage and divorce and mortgages and loss.

"He is never going to know what we go through so I feel quite at peace about that.

"He died in such tragic circumstances that I’m finding it difficult to come to terms with but I’ve got to be strong for Charlotte.

"We did everything together. We did silly things like I remember being in a car wash and I put the windows down when the blower was on and we were laughing.

"We didn’t always have the best life but we were happy."