Ed Sheeran has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Jamal Edwards as he admits he doesn’t think he’d have a career without him.
Entrepreneur Edwards, best-known for establishing music platform SBTV in 2006, helped launch the careers of some of the UK’s biggest acts, including Sheeran, Dave and Jessie J.
He died suddenly on February 20 at the age of 31 after suffering a heart attack at home, with his mum, Loose Women’s Brenda Edwards, later saying she was with him to hold his hand.
Edwards’ contribution to the music industry is well documented, with the late star having been posthumously awarded the Music Industry Trusts (Mits) Award in recognition of his contribution to the sector.
He was also an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, and had been made MBE in 2015 for his services to music through SBTV.
On Tuesday, friends and fans of Edwards gathered for a special memorial concert, with Shivers singer Sheeran taking to the stage to recall how the SBTV founder had given him his big break 12 years ago.
‘I really don’t think I would have been given the opportunities that I was given had it not been for Jamal putting his arm around me,’ Sheeran said, according to BBC News.
He recalled how he had been ‘slogging on the acoustic singer-songwriter scene for a very long time, just blending in’ before he was discovered by Edwards and given the opportunity to perform on his YouTube channel.
That video led to him being picked up by his now-manager Stuart Camp, well as record label Atlantic.
Sheeran said people ‘assume’ that just because he can write songs and sing, he ‘probably would’ have become famous anyway – but Sheeran said he ‘doesn’t agree with that.’
‘I really don’t think I would have been allowed through certain doors if it hadn’t been for Jamal,’ he admitted.
‘He was just all about finding people and showing people new opportunities, at a time where the industry was mostly based in London.’
The star-studded concert, which also included appearances by the likes of Lewis Capaldi and US actor Terry Crews, also acted as a fundraising event for the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust, set up by his family after his sudden death.
Speaking to the PA news agency at the event, mum Brenda said ‘self belief’ can make all the difference to young people, and that’s what the charity is all about.
‘Jamal taught me self belief when I was going through my cancer, he said, “Mommy have some self belief.”
‘And that’s what we need to get out to the young people for them to remember because the young people are the future of tomorrow and it’s important to me to give them that platform that they can feel empowered, that they can feel strength and that they can feel that someone’s there listening to them.
‘And that’s what we’re trying to do with the trust and we will achieve that, because we have self belief.’
Brenda announced the foundation of the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust in March of this year, mere weeks after losing her son.
In a statement at the time, Brenda, her daughter Tanisha and the extended Edwards family said the money raised will be used to combat homelessness, support people with mental health issues and provide young people with ‘essential life skills’.
The family were inspired to set up the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust in his name ‘to honour his memory and continue his legacy’, the statement reads.
They added: ‘Jamal lived his life staying true to himself, providing a platform for all to showcase what made them special whilst encouraging all to believe in themselves to achieve their full potential.’
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