Ed Sheeran broke down in tears as he performed at music legend Michael Gudinski's state memorial in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday.
The British singer became visibly emotional at the state memorial service, held at the city's Rod Laver Arena, as he played a song he had written days before about his baby daughter Lyra as well as the late music executive and co-founder of Mushroom Records, who died in his sleep on 2 March at the age of 68.
Wearing a black suit, white shirt and tie, Sheeran sang three songs, including Visiting Hours, which he had written while in quarantine in the country, and its theme of a life being ended too soon brought him to tears.
According to the Daily Mail Online, the Shape of You hitmaker told the audience before his set: "I never get this nervous, I'm really f**king nervous. So apologies if I mess up the lyrics or anything. So I'm extremely, extremely grateful to be here. I know it's a difficult thing to get into this country and I don't take it for granted for all the hard work getting me here and I really, really just appreciated the opportunity to get here."
He continued: "In lockdown I was able to have a guitar for quarantine I always find the best way to process stuff is to write songs, be it good news, bad news and here's a song I finished last week."
The song featured the lyrics: "I wish that heaven had visiting hours. So I could just show and bring the news that she's getting older. And I wish that you'd met her. I wish that you'd met her. The things that she'd learn from me I got them all from you. I wish that heaven had visiting hours."
He returned to the stage later to perform a duet with Kylie Minogue.
The service also featured video tributes from Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Elton John, Taylor Swift, and Billy Joel.
