Lavelle Daley: Sheffield BGT star tops iTunes chart again with new song featuring son, 5

A Sheffield R&B singer has opened up about the challenge of balancing her music career with looking after her young son, who has non-verbal autism.

Lavelle Daley's second solo single Honest went straight to the number one in the iTunes R&B/Soul chart upon its release on Friday, January 26, matching the success of her debut solo single Baby Boy.

Her five-year-old son Jaleel features in the video for Honest, which was filmed at Sheffield City Hall.

Jaleel has autism and does not speak but Lavelle, who has described him as her biggest inspiration, told how he loves music and was thrilled to appear on stage in the music video.

"He was so excited about the video because he loves instruments and was loving being on stage at City Hall," she said.

"We had a live band and he was proper infatuated with them and their instruments."

Lavelle described Jaleel as a 'massive part of my musical journey' and the 'battery in my back for why I'm doing this', which she said was why he had been included in the writing credits for Honest and in the video.

Supporting autism charity Sparkle Sheffield

Lavelle told how Jaleel had been diagnosed with non-verbal autism aged two.

She is keen to increase awareness of the condition and chose to raise money for the charity Sparkle Sheffield, which supports children and young people with Autism Spectrum Conditions, at the launch party for Honest.

"Having a child with special educational needs is something that unless you've experienced that it's difficult to understand," she told The Star.

"Charities like Sparkle Sheffield are really good at providing parents with the resources they might not be able to find elsewhere, especially with the NHS waiting list being so long."

Asked about the challenge of raising a young son while pursuing a musical career, Lavelle, who in 2017 made a big impression on Britain's Got Talent as part of The Miss Treats, said it was 'really difficult'.

Son Jaleel is a 'little ray of sunshine'

But she said Jaleel's dad has him half the week, giving her the time to focus on her music then.

She described Honest as the follow-up to Baby Boy, about making a relationship work once you've been dating for a while.

It is part of her Dear Diary project in which each track is like a diary entry.

One of the songs was written for her son and is called Jaleel's Lullaby. "It's about how proud I am of him and all the things he's overcome in his life so far," she says.

"Having a kid who's non-verbal, even learning to do simple things like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes can take him a long time because he doesn't have the cognitive function.

"But every day he's growing, getting stronger and learning new things. He's my biggest inspiration. I'm doing all this for him so he has the easiest life possible.

"Jaleel's a very placid boy. He's very smart, happy and smiley, and very high energy too, but so loving and caring.

"He always wants a cuddle and a smooch. He's just a little ray of sunshine who lights up any room. I'm so, so proud of him."

You can follow Lavelle on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/lavelleofficial/.

For more about Sparkle Sheffield, visit: https://sparklesheffield.co.uk/.