Hollywood actress Hayden Panettiere was just six years old when she walked into now-Newcastle lord mayor Gavin Morris' studio and belted out Mariah Carey's song Hero.
It was the early 1990s and Cr Morris and his former wife Valerie, a professional opera singer, were unearthing new jingle-singing stars with their talent management company Val's Artist Management in New York, now known as Vamnation.
Panettiere, best known for her roles in Heroes, Nashville and the Scream franchise, died on Sunday (Monday AEST) aged 36. The news was confirmed by her family after the actor was reportedly found in cardiac arrest before her death.
Cr Morris said he was heartbroken when he heard about her death, describing Panettiere as an "extraordinary talent".
When she first auditioned, with her firefighter father Alan by her side, Cr Morris said Panettiere looked like a young Shirley Temple with her blonde curly hair.
It was when she first started to sing that he and his then-wife realised they'd stumbled across someone truly special.
"It was just one of those insane moments," Cr Morris said.
"All of our jaws were just on the floor."
So, they signed her instantly and Panettiere quickly began booking jobs.
Before long she was discovered by Hollywood and swept off to Los Angeles where Cr Morris said her acting career went "absolutely gangbusters".
"To see someone with an extraordinary talent come into your office and then watch it unfold so quickly, they've just got the "it" factor, and that's what Hayden had," Cr Morris said.
"She was literally launched into the world in our office."
Years later Cr Morris remembers watching Nashville and noticed Panettiere was truly putting herself into the role.
"I'd read about her postpartum issues, and we knew about Nashville and thought she'd done a great job, and then obviously she went silent again," Cr Morris said.
"I knew her as a young child before the mega-stardom happened and she was just a beaming light. She really was."
Panettiere was found unresponsive inside a South Carolina home on Sunday night.
Police have confirmed there were no signs of foul play and the circumstances surrounding her death did not appear to be suspicious.
Months before her death, Panettiere released a memoir titled This is Me: A Reckoning, which detailed her journey to fame and struggles with exploitation, addiction and postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya.
Panettiere also wrote about the alleged domestic abuse she suffered from her former partner Brian Hickerson.
In a statement, Panettiere's father Alan announced her death.
"She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her, and to the millions who watched her onscreen," Mr Panettiere said.
An official cause of death has not been released.
