Ed Sheeran shared a throwback together with his late friend Jamal Edwards, who died in February at the age of 31.
The 31-year-old singer took to Instagram on Wednesday and posted a photo of the couple apparently enjoying a drink at a bar.
Ed appeared in good spirits in the photo as he grinned at his phone while wearing a tie-dye sweater.
Memories: Ed Sheeran shared a throwback together with his late friend Jamal Edwards, who died in February at the age of 31
He was seated next to music entrepreneur Jamal, who was wearing a gray plaid sweater and black T-shirt.
Ed and Jamal were friends for years and the hitmaker worked through Jamal on a remix of the Fireboy song Peru.
The singer previously shared how Fireboy asked Ed to be involved in the remix through Jamal.
He said: “So I got this a week ago. A friend of mine Jamal who runs SBTV sent it to me. He said, ‘Fireboy DML would love you to remix this song.’
Pals: Ed and Jamal were friends for years and the hitmaker was working on a remix of Fireboy’s song Peru by Jamal (pictured with Jessie J)
“It’s a song that’s exploding in Nigeria and Ghana right now and running their club scene over Christmas.”
“So you basically brought a song to the club in mid-December, which would be an odd thing to do in England. But yes, I did the remix for this song, but this is the original and catchy tune.”
Jamal died of cardiac arrest following an overnight cocaine and drinking session, an inquest conducted earlier this month.
Three small bags of white powder residue were found on the son of Loose Women panelist Brenda Edwards after he collapsed at his home in west London in February this year, the hearing has been told.
Family: In a statement, Jamal’s mother Brenda Edwards said: ‘Jamal was a beautiful and selfless person’ (pictured in November 2021)
West London Deputy Coroner Ivor Collett ruled today that Jamal died after suffering a cardiac arrest caused by the use of cocaine and alcohol.
His heartbroken mother, Brenda, described him as “a beautiful and selfless person” in a statement read to the inquest. Earlier this year, she said she wanted his death to help “create more conversations about the unpredictability of recreational drugs.”
The DJ and founder of online R&B/hip-hop platform SB.TV had returned to his home in Acton after 4am after playing a set in north London before meeting a friend, Nick Hopper, who lived in an annex of, donned and drank the house.
Mr Hopper said that “he seemed like himself” and they “started chatting, smoking some weed and drinking” – but his famous friend then opened up about the pressure he was under.
Statement: Brenda Edwards announced earlier this year that her son’s cause of death was drug-related
After a while, Jamal became erratic and paranoid and began throwing objects around the room before collapsing, the inquest was told.
Despite the best efforts of Mr Hopper and later his uncle Rodney Artman, as well as paramedics, Jamal did not wake up and was pronounced dead at 10.36am on Sunday 20 February.
Mr Hopper said in a statement read by the coroner to the inquest: “When he came in he appeared to be his normal self and it seemed like he had just been out.
How Jamal Edwards launched the careers of some of Britain’s biggest stars from a YouTube channel set up in his bedroom when he was 15 and working for Topman
Jamal was 15 when his mum Brenda bought him a very special Christmas present – a £200 video camera.
YouTube had just launched and Jamal, who like most teenagers spent hours online in his bedroom, decided to upload some footage of foxes in his garden. “I thought I was Steve Irwin,” he said in an interview with Web.
A young Ed Sheeran appears on SBTV in 2010 in a clip that now has 11 million views on YouTube alone
But when the footage got 1,000 views, he realized he was on to something.
He went out onto the property and filmed a few clips of his friends, most of whom were into grime – the style of music now defined by the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Skepta.
“Back then there wasn’t a place where we could showcase our brand of spitting and rapping, so I was like, OK, I want to create this platform,” he said. He took his own rap moniker “Smokey Barz” to coin his brand name and SBTV was born.
Jamal started his Topman career as a salesman, but at the same time he also started hanging out at the BBC, sneaking into raves and messaging record labels asking for interview time with their artists. His big break came three years later when he secured his first non-grime interview with Kelly Rowland.
This was followed by Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz and countless other A-listers. In 2011 he was invited to 10 Downing Street to interview the Prime Minister after being named Ambassador for the Spirit of London Awards.
Still active in both filming and editing at SBTV, Jamal had big plans to expand the brand into sports, comedy and fashion.
Away from work, his great passion was Chelsea FC.
“We started chatting, smoking weed and drinking. He told me he was under a lot of pressure. There were periods of talking followed by silence.
“Over time Jamal became quite paranoid and said I had things on my hands when I didn’t. Whenever I moved, he would panic. I told him to calm down but he kept getting angry.
“He grabbed things and threw them across the room. He was panicking and sweating, I spent ages trying to get him to open the door.’
Mr Hopper said he kept trying to open a window but Mr Edwards would not let him and he eventually collapsed unconscious next to the bathroom door.
After 9.30am, Jamal’s uncle came and he said he performed CPR for about 10 minutes until the paramedics arrived and took over but they were unable to revive her.
The inquest found that police were treating the death as non-suspicious but found three small snap bags containing the remains of white powder in Mr Edwards’ pocket.
Toxicology tests found cocaine and alcohol in his system, but no cannabis.
There was also MDMA in Mr Edwards’ urine but no blood, suggesting he had taken the drug recently – but not on the night of his death.
In a statement, Met Police Detective Sergeant Luke Taylor said: “There was no evidence of trauma to either party.
“Three small snap pouches containing the remains of a white powder and bloodied handkerchiefs were found in his pocket, which have been linked to the ingestion of Class A drugs.
“He suffered a heart attack from taking recreational drugs and alcohol.”
Mr Edwards’ GP confirmed that while he was showing signs of sickle cell disease, he was not taking any regular medication.
Mr Collett summed up before the West London Coroner’s Court: “He had worked as a DJ at a venue in Islington.
“He got home around 4.30am and was rejoined by his close friend.
“They had a few drinks and agreed to smoke cannabis. Although he appeared normal at first, his demeanor changed and he showed signs of anxiety, paranoia, and irritability.
“Despite his friend’s efforts to calm him down, he started throwing things across the room before collapsing to the floor.
“The police found drug paraphernalia, the toxicological tests recently found evidence of drug use.
“The allegation is that Jamal took cocaine in sufficient quantity to cause an adverse reaction caused by cocaine intoxication. This then caused cardiac arrhythmia, which led to his death.’
Jamal was awarded an MBE for services to music in 2014 and has been a Prince’s Trust Ambassador.
In a statement read at the hearing, Brenda Edwards said: “Jamal was a beautiful and selfless person.
“Since growing up with his family in Acton, he has made it his personal mission to open doors for others.
“To help people through life to love and laugh. And above all, to make people happy.”
She added: “Jamal has helped so many and worked tirelessly to give people a platform.
“His charitable work stretched far and wide, from working in homeless shelters to returning to his roots in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“We are so proud of everything Jamal has achieved over the course of his 31 years and how he has impacted the lives of others. We miss him so much.’
Honour: Jamal Edwards with his Member of the British Empire (MBE) after being awarded it by the Prince of Wales at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in central London in March 2015