HE'S one of the most highly regarded young musicians in the music world. His work has won the coveted Mercury Music Prize and been featured in a Gap ad. He's as famous for his woolly hats as his records. Oh, and he's from Breighmet.

BOB Dylan says he can't remember a time when he wasn't famous, and I know exactly what he means."

Here speaks Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, aka former Breightmet boy and now father-of-two.

Gough admits the past four years of his life have been so intense he can hardly remember what it was like before Badly Drawn Boy grabbed the music industry by the scruff of the neck and gave it a damn good shaking.

"The past four years have been so intense," says Gough, "that I can't remember what it felt like to be me before all this started."

Since then, woolly-hatted Gough released his spectacular debut album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast -- so loved by everyone even Gap used a track, The Shining, on its Christmas 2000 TV ad -- which won the Technics Mercury Music Prize that September. Gough responded to this great honour by wiping a tear from his eye and saying: "Good things don't usually happen to good people."

Sadly his heartfelt words rang very true straight after when he lost the £20,000 prize-winning cheque during the subsequent celebrations. Oh yes, everyone fell in love with Badly Drawn Boy. Including writer, Nick Hornby who thought Gough would be the perfect songwriter to score the soundtrack for the film of his third novel, About A Boy (on general release).

Hornby says: "What I like about Damon's music is that it is recognisably English without all the irritations that implies."

Once Gough's fame could be reflected by fellow north-western luminaries like Johnny Marr, Mark E Smith and the Gallagher brothers, now he's attracting an international crowd -- Bono, Meg Ryan and Alan Rickman are fans. But they are only discovering what his Bolton followers have known for ages.

Facts about A Badly Drawn Boy

The name comes from the TV cartoon, Sam and His Magic Ball Born and raised in Breightmet, his family still live there

The name comes from the TV cartoon, Sam and His Magic Ball

He says his famous woolly hat hides "a secret mullet and a packet of Malborough Lights"

Damon's hat was given to him by his girlfriend Claire. It used to belong to someone in her family.