Layla Astley is probably best known amongst Virginia fans for providing backing vocals on the 1985 single ‘Darkness Has Reached Its End’. Layla (daughter of Virginia’s brother Jon) was only 4 at the time, but she’s continued to follow a musical path ever since.

Layla’s most recent work has been for Tuesday’s Child – a double CD by various artists released in Northern Ireland in November. The Tuesday Child charity is dedicated to bringing hope to the most vulnerable of children, regardless of their nationality, circumstance, gender or beliefs. Featuring mainly Irish artists, the line up includes amongst others, Ronan Keating, Mary Black & Brian Kennedy. The production has been overseen by Jon Astley and Layla has contributed an original song ‘Take My Leave’, which she wrote, recorded and produced. “It’s really a great honour for me to help with this and I’m so stoked to be involved” says Layla, “To be helping to make a difference to someone’s life, if not many people’s lives, can only be a good thing”. The album is due for release in Eire and the UK in 2008.

The Tuesday’s Child charity can be reached via their website:
www.tuesdayschild.ie

Meanwhile, more information on Layla Astley’s work is available on her MySpace page here: www.myspace.com/laylaastley.

Finally, the Virginia Astley Forum is now open once again. The message-board was closed for a period due to excessive abuse by spambots. Apologies for any inconvenience and please feel free to continue posting!