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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Alan Johnson

Ed Sheeran pays emotional tribute to late music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards

Ed Sheeran has paid an emotional tribute to his late friend, the DJ and music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards MBE.

Jamal passed away at his mother's home in February as a result of a cardiac arrhythmia caused by the use of recreational drugs. He was just 31.

Castle On The Hill star Ed took to Instagram on Friday to publish a video that Jamal himself helped create.

The 31-year old singer-songwriter revealed he had 'hit up' Jamal for ideas for the music video to a song he was recording with the rapper, Russ.

Jamal, however, tragically died a day before the video was due to be shot.

Five months on, Ed has finally released the track in question - 'Are You Entertained' - and hopes he has made Jamal's vision 'come to life'.

Alongside the video, he penned the heartfelt message: "I was having dinner in New York in December when Russ came up to my table, I was a fan so we just sat and ate pasta and drink wine together.

"A few days later I sent him the rough idea for this song, the same day he emailed me back with it finished, which I loved. He said we should do a video, so I hit up Jamal Edwards, knowing that he would create something incredible for us. Jamal then planned it out for the next couple of months, sending me locations, ideas, cameos, trying to make it the best video any of us could make."

He continued: "We were meant to shoot in February, but the day before Russ flew out, Jamal tragically died. Our whole world was upside down, and I had to cancel and just tell Russ it wasn’t happening, but he was so so understanding, to a level I'll never forget.

"Jamal's mum and sister a few weeks later said we should still try and make Jamal's vision come to life, so with the help of his amazing production team at RadicalMedia and Jake Nava directing, we shot it. I felt so sad on the day, but very proud. I wish Jam was here to see it, I wish we’d done it together, but he would be buzzing how all his people came together and brought his vision to life.

"Russ, thanks for being such an amazing human, and thank you to everyone who made this video happen. Jamal lives on forever. Are you entertained out now x."

Ed and Jamal in happier times (Wire)

Following the coroner's finding of his cause of death, anguished mum Brenda of Loose Women fame took to Twitter to share her devastation, warning against the misuse of drugs.

"Any one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences," she said.

The ITV panellist wrote that her son was taken far too soon and that his death is "proof that this can happen to anyone".

She went on to warn others of the dangers of taking drugs that are "extremely unpredictable" and urged people to think before making the same choices Jamal did.

Brenda said she can't get her son back but hoped her talking publicly about the circumstances around his passing would help save at least one life.

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