CONTINUING Weymouth Pavilion’s drive to bring big acts to the town, R’n’B hero Lemar will be in the venue’s Ocean Room tomorrow night, headlining an evening of live music and DJs Lemar first found fame with the BBC reality show Fame Academy in 2002.

Although he came third in the contest – the winner was David Sneddon – he has gone on to become a multi-million-selling musician and has won several Brit and Mobo awards.

He grew up in a musical family and turned down a place to study medicine at Cardiff University in favour of a performing career.

“My mother and father were both pastors and my mother has a really good singing voice, so we did a lot of church singing as a result,” said Lemar, who has a young son and daughter of his own.

“It wasn’t quite like the Sound of Music, but music was always there at home.

“Fame Academy was different from the X Factor and I was new to the scene then and really didn’t know what to expect or how to behave. But I had spent eight years trying to break into it so I decided to just go for it.”

He attributes his success following the show to the fact that the music industry looks for different things than talent show judges.

“On the show a lot is about your personality and if someone likes you but once you are out of that, it is down to the fact that people like your music and want to buy your records.”

Lemar is currently dividing his time between London and Los Angeles while he works on his next album, which will be his sixth. When not recording his own material, he writes songs for other artists, although won’t let on who they are.

“They are well-known artists, a man and a woman and we will see where it goes,” he said. “I love writing songs and it’s nice to write without the pressure of writing it for your own fans.

“It gives you a bit more freedom because it’s not limited to you and what you do as an artist. You can write for a girl or for a boy and there’s more scope in a way.

“I love performing too and my passion for music is as strong as ever. I can’t wait to come to Weymouth and have a great time.”

An Evening with Lemar, with supporting acts and DJs, is tomorrow from 10pm until late and is age 18 and over only. Tickets are £17.50 from the box office on 01305 783225.