Chart-topper Ronan Keating hopes to help the songwriting superstars of tomorrow take their first steps on the road to fame.

The former Boyzone singer will help singer/songwriters learn their trade at a new music school in Brighton.

He will sponsor six places at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, set up by music industry friend Bruce Dickinson.

Ronan said: "It is the superstars of the future we are looking at. It is about raw talent, trying to find it from the roots and building it up."

Courses where budding musicians can learn to become singer/songwriters are rare and the star hopes it will set an example that others will follow.

He said: "Nine years ago I was given the opportunity and I don't think I would be where I am today without the help of other people.

"You definitely need a helping hand and not everybody can afford to buy a piano or guitar.

"You cannot get a better education than actually being out there and doing it but when it comes to singer/songwriting, the course I am involved in is a little bit different.

"You need people writing all the time, singing all the time and working with different songwriters, which is different to being out on the road."

The Irish star will also make visits to the college, in Rock Place, to help teach some of the students he is sponsoring.

He said: "Hopefully, I will get down myself to do some of the lectures.

"I would just work with them on a day-to-day basis as I am not a school teacher.

"I will not go down there to speak to them with a piece of chalk in my hand."

He hopes the course and his sponsorship will inspire the students with the raw talent he talks of to one day make it to the top of the charts themselves.

Ronan said: "At the end of the day, music has to be something in the blood, something they have a passion for.

"I am in Wembley tonight and I hope in four, five, six, seven, eight or nine years time I will be here watching some of them performing on the stage."