The former NRBQ star turned music teacher and mentor to young Trainor while her mum Kelli was trying to come to terms with her uncle Robert LePalm's suicide, and he tells Life & Style magazine he quickly realised the All About That Bass singer had something special.

Spampinato says, "Kelli called me and asked if I could give Meghan music lessons. Meghan would come over to my house and I had a little studio set up... She would write 10 pop songs a day, just pouring them out. By age 14, she had recorded her own material with a MAC computer and probably (online music creation studio) GarageBand.

"I introduced her to Big Al Anderson, who I replaced in NRBQ. He has platinum records on his walls and he's written for a lot of country artists, and he got Meghan a deal... I really didn't have to sell her. She sold herself with her talent."