Sarah Harding was planning to reinvent herself as a blues singer before being diagnosed with cancer.
The former Girls Aloud singer had been working hard on new material and improving her skills on guitar in a bid to “find herself musically” and be seen as a “raw” artist, but had to shelve her plans when she was told she had breast cancer last year.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Sarah really wanted to revamp herself as an altogether different kind of artist to her Girls Aloud days.
“She was on a journey to find herself musically and rebrand as a blues artist, as that’s where her passion is.
“She was playing guitar all night until her fingers bled and watching videos of her favourite performers in order to perfect her sound.
“Her health issues meant she didn’t get a chance to lay down any tracks, but there’s hope she will eventually be well enough to put out the kind of music she loves.”
The 39-year-old star was excited about her plans and taking control of her career because she felt she “didn’t have free rein” in Girls Aloud.
The insider added: “She was looking forward to being in the driving seat and surprising people.”
Last month, Sarah released a previously-unheard track, ‘Wear It Like a Crown’ in aid of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, which topped the iTunes chart.
She said at the time: “I came across a song I recorded 10 years ago.
“I’ve always really loved it, and it made me feel a bit sad that no one ever got to hear it. I told my team and they said we could release it, and I thought, ‘Why the hell not?’ ”
The blonde beauty previously admitted she initially thought that her cancer – which has now been revealed to be terminal and spread to other parts of her body – was a cyst caused by her guitar strap irritating her breast.
She shared: “At first I thought it was just a cyst. I’d been playing my guitar a lot, and I thought the strap had probably irritated an area around my breast.
“The trouble was, the pain was getting worse. It got so bad that I couldn’t sleep in a bed any more. I slept on the sofa, popping painkillers like they were Smarties. I really overdid it, but the pain was overwhelming.”