Ed Sheeran is ‘so upset’ after being forced to miss his grandmother’s funeral due to his ongoing copyright trial in the States.
The singer has been taken to court by the Marvin Gaye estate, which claims the pop star copied one of his biggest songs.
He has been in New York arguing his case against Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of Ed Townsend, who worked with Gaye on his 1973 hit, 'Let's Get It On'.
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She alleges that the 32-year-old mimicked the iconic tune when creating his number one 'Thinking Out Loud' back in 2014, claiming there are 'striking similarities' between the two tracks, as well as 'overt common elements' that violate their copyright.
Sheeran maintains that none of this is the case, and has been furiously defending himself in court.
Because of this, he’s sadly been unable to attend his grandmother Nancy’s funeral in Ireland, following her death on 25 April.
The star’s father John said his son had no choice but to ‘defend his integrity’, which meant he had to remain in New York.
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As he gave the eulogy, he said: “I am very sad that our son Edward is unable to be here today. He’s so upset that he cannot be present – he has to be thousands of miles away in a court in America defending his integrity.
“I know he is comforted by the fact that he was able to spend some precious time alone with his grandma just a month ago.”
The grieving son – Nancy's youngest – went on to pay tribute to his ‘country girl’ mother, saying she had a ‘tomboy spirit’ as she helped out on the family farm.
“Mum was a driven woman all her life, with a strong social conscience, and an innate desire to help others less fortunate than herself,” the 65-year-old said.
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Nancy was responsible for one of her grandson's hit songs, called 'Nancy Mulligan', which was inspired by the story of how she married the singer's grandfather William, a Protestant dentist.
Speaking back in 2017, Sheeran told Zane Lowe: "They got engaged and no one turned up at their wedding.
"He stole all the gold teeth in his dental surgery and melted them down into a wedding ring, and they wore borrowed clothes to get married, and just basically have this kind of Romeo and Juliet romance, which is like the most romantic thing.
"So I thought I'd write a song about it and make it a jig."
Topics: Celebrity, Ed Sheeran, News, Music
Jess Hardiman