'We played it at her funeral': Travelling Ed Sheeran fan asks singer to dedicate song to grandma at Roundhay Park gig

Kate Rhodes and her late mum, Adrienne Ballington.

Ian Rhodes, 48, who is travelling to Leeds from Derby, reached out to the singer on Twitter, asking if he would dedicate his hit Supermarket Flowers track to Adrienne Ballington who died aged 73, in June. The song was also played at her funeral.

He said that his mum-in-law, who suffered from Alzheimers, would “sing along” to Ed Sheeran songs in her final days.

Mr Rhodes, whose daughter attends university in Leeds, told the YEP: “Adrienne died just a few months ago and we were lucky enough to get a ticket.” he said “I thought: ‘Well, I will drop him a message and see if we can do anything.’

Kate Rhodes, Ian Rhodes, and his mum-in-law, Adrienne Ballington.

“We had that song played at her funeral too.”

Mr Rhodes and his wife Kate, 42, would play music to her regularly, even when she was unable to have a conversation or open her eyes, he said.

It is understood that the song itself was written by the pop star in memory of his own grandmother, who played it at her funeral as well.

Speaking about his own mum-in-law, Mr Rhodes said: “She kind of murmured to and made noises all along with the melody which was quite nice.

“She certainly liked that sort of music. She would quite happily tap her hands on her knees when music like that was played.”

Mrs Ballington was diagnosed with Alzheimers in June 2013.

Her daughter, who works as a district nurse, initially cared for her before she moved into a nursing home.

Mrs Ballington also donated her kidney to her son Simon, 45, in 2010 after he suffered from polycystic kidney disease.

Sheeran, unbeknownst to him, has already sang to her before. On an Instagram Live set in 2018, the musician asked fans to request songs for him to play.

“We were the only people typed in Supermarket Flowers and he actually saw that and he played it.” Mr Rhodes said.

“So he has already sung to her in a way, I suppose, which was nice.”

The couple cut short their Cornwall holiday in order to attend the special gig tonight, with Mr Rhodes’s daughter also attending the University of Leeds.

Some 80,000 people are expected in Leeds tonight for the concert at Roundhay Park as part of the final leg of his Divided world tour.