Ed Sheeran has surprisingly admitted that he honoured his late Australian close friend and music industry icon Michael Gudinski by installing a life-size statue of him in his home.
The 33-year-old English pop star revealed on the Gudinski podcast that he had installed a huge statue of his late friend, music promoter Michael Gudinski, in his home pub.
“I’ve got a statue of Michael in my pub at home. I wanted to have him in the pub all the time, so I asked him to have a bronze statue of himself made, which he did,” Sheeran began.
Sheeran and Gudinski became close friends in 2018 when Michael worked with him to help promote his Australian Divide national tour.
The hitmaker added that he often visited the statue and had a drink in its company as a tribute to his late friend, who died in March 2021.
‘The night he passed away, I woke up at three o’clock to a phone call and the first thing I did was go to the wine cellar and have a drink with the statue. It was really nice.
‘That’s what I do on his birthday, I just go have a drink with him and I feel very lucky to be able to have this thing in my house.’
Ed previously paid tribute to Gudinski on Instagram in 2021 following his shocking death aged 68, describing the late Mushroom Group boss as a “father figure and mentor”.
Ed Sheeran has made the startling confession that he paid tribute to his late Australian close friend and music industry icon Michael Gudinski by installing a life-size statue of him in his home. The two are pictured
He said Gudinski was overjoyed and that it was “hard to put into words” the impact the promoter had on him.
“Michael was a tornado of joy. You knew he had arrived in the building just by hearing his chaotic barking and you could feel the room getting excited about his arrival,” she said.
‘He was a great force and made everyone feel like they were the most important person to him.
“He had a way with words that most people couldn’t understand. We always joked that he needed a translator because of the speed at which he spoke with a thick Australian accent. But his passion was always something that never needed translating as it came through every time he spoke.”
The 33-year-old English pop star revealed on the Gudinski podcast that he installed a huge statue of his late friend and music promoter Michael Gudinski in his home pub. Pictured: Ed and Gudinski’s son Matt with the statue
Sheeran added: ‘For me and many others, he is the heartbeat of Australian music and always will be.
Ed said that while the gift of the bronze statue was originally a joke, he was glad to receive it because he could now “share his favorite wine with Michael and say goodbye to him.”
“Nothing will ever fill the void he left in our lives, but the memories we all have of him will live on,” she continued in her tribute.
“I’ve got a statue of Michael in my pub. I’ve got a pub in my house. I wanted to have him in the pub all the time, so I asked him to have a bronze statue of himself made, and he did,” Sheeran said.