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3rd May 2023
03:30pm BST
Ed Sheeran is reportedly "so upset" he missed his grandmother's funeral in Ireland on Wednesday due to his ongoing copyright case in the US.
The singer's dad, John, told the service for Anne 'Nancy' Sheeran that Ed could not attend because he had to "defend his integrity".
The 32-year-old has been taken to court by the Marvin Gaye estate, which claims he mimicked the singer's iconic song, 'Let's Get It On', on his number one hit, 2014's 'Thinking Out Loud'. Ed has said he will quit the music industry if he is found guilty.
Nancy, 98, inspired one of Ed's most personal songs, Nancy Mulligan, which features on his third album, Divide. The song tells the story of how she married the singer's grandfather William, a Protestant dentist.
MailOnline reported that Ed's dad delivered the eulogy and 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 Mail noted that St Patrick’s Church, Monaseed, Nancy’s home village, was packed for her service.
Nancy passed away on 25 April.
John, Nancy's youngest soon, paid tribute to his "country girl" mother, saying she had a "tomboy spirit" and mucked in 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,” he said.
Ed told Zane Lowe of the song in 2017: "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."
Ed’s grandmother previously opened up about her grandson’s success in an interview with RTÉ in 2017, referring to the musician as a "lovely" kid.
“He came [to Wexford] every year on holidays once we moved here,” the then 92-year-old recalled.
“I'll never think of him as famous. He's exactly the same as he always was when he visits and it's very rare because he's always working."
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