THROUGHOUT this week we have been reflecting on the lives of five friends who were just at the beginning of their musical journey.

While so much has been written about Viola Beach and their manager Craig Tarry since their tragic deaths, we think we may have unearthed a number of facts you haven't read before while we worked on the 12-page legacy edition inside this week's Warrington Guardian newspaper.

  • Boys That Sing was the fourth most played song on Radio X during 2016
  • Viola Beach's self-titled album was the highest selling album in the Warrington HMV store in Golden Square - outselling Adele
  • After their deal with Communion, Viola Beach recorded songs with acclaimed producer Ian Grimble, who has worked with Catfish and the Bottlemen, Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons and Bear’s Den
  • Viola Beach self-funded their debut single, Swings and Waterslides, which they recorded at Sugar House based at Catalyst Studios in St Helens
  • Viola Beach formed thanks to a chance meeting at Warrington bus station. Kris Leonard and Jack Dakin went to Bradshaw Primary School but fell out of touch until they bumped into each other and got talking again at the station
  • Viola Beach were discovered by BBC Introducing after Kris Leonard uploaded the track, Love My Love, to the service in the Warrington Guardian’s toilets in September 2013. He was working as a cleaner at the time.
  • Viola Beach’s first official gig was at the iconic Cavern Club in Liverpool in front of industry experts in July 2015
  • Viola Beach’s songwriting process always started with the drumbeat. Kris told us in 2015: "We like to get the drums right first. Music for me is something primarily to dance to so if you can't dance to the drumbeat we start again."
  • Viola Beach announced their October 2016 Parr Hall show just weeks after selling out their March 2016 Pyramid gig. They sadly died before playing either of those homecoming shows
  • A Viola Beach scholarship has been launched at the Dynamo venue in Norrkoping in Sweden where the band played their last gig
  • Viola Beach’s drummer has been honoured at St Gregory’s RC High School where he studied with the introduction of a Jack Dakin drummer award at the annual battle of the bands. A Presto Music School drummer scholarship has also been launched in Jack’s memory
  • Members of Viola Beach used to perform at open mic nights at The Lounge alongside Max Vickers and Mo Adeniran who recently appeared on The Voice
  • More Viola Beach songs exist. Ady Hall and Lee McCarthy from Sugar House have three unreleased tracks and another version of the band’s song, Cherry Vimto, at their studio. Ady and Lee are hoping to release these tracks to the families.
  • Parr Hall staff all worked for free on the night of the Viola Beach tribute celebration
  • Viola Beach are one of more than 170,000 bands who have registered with BBC Introducing since its launch in 2007. A total of 1.4 million tracks have been sent into the BBC website.