It’s the season of goodwill – but rapper Stormzy went one step beyond on Thursday when he agreed to perform at the funeral of a fan’s father.
Fans praised the 24-year-old grime artist for singing his hit single Blinded By Your Grace at the service in Reading, after a request asking him to attend on Twitter.
Twitter user Nasir Bockarie, known as @GodsSonNB7, requested that the rapper perform his number 1 single at his dad’s funeral because it had been his favourite.
Man of his word: Rapper Stormzy (centre) performed at the funeral of a fan’s father on Thursday after he responded to a tweet asking him to attend
Reaching out to the artist, the secondary school P.E teacher wrote: ‘Bro my dad passed away on the day of my graduation last week Friday.
‘Our favourite song of yours was Blinded By your Grace.
‘Would love it if you could preform this at his funeral next Thursday 21st December. Don’t worry if you can’t, I just thought I’d try my luck? #Hopeful’
Sad story: Nasir (left, here with his father) has posted pictures saying that he wished his father was still around
Hopeful: The hopeful son reached out to Stormzy via Twitter last week
Getting in touch: The grime artist tweeted back to Nasir Bockarie’s request to perform at his dad’s funeral
Born Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr, the freestyle artist – who is followed on Twitter by 1.08M followers – responded to Nasir within two days and took the stage at the service with backing singers.
On his GoFundMe page, Nasir explained that his father had passed away at the Royal Berkshire hospital in Reading on the day he graduated from university.
He wrote: ‘My father held on to his last breath in hopes to see me by his bedside. I’m sadden by his death because I feel he held on to my words and I didn’t make it on time to see before he passed away.’
Nasir described his father as a ‘strong-willed fighter’ after he bounced back from two strokes in 2000 and a kidney transplant in 2008.
Paying tribute: Nasir explained that his father had passed away on the day of his graduation (pictured here during his childhood)
Family memories: He also said that his father was a ‘fighter’ after a number of health ailments
Memories: Nasir said that his father had needed care over a period of 17 years
‘He was constantly in hospitals and needed care at home for 17 years. In this period, my mother was a strong rock for him and us as we grew up.
‘Although his death has sadden our family, my father achieved a lot of things he planned and saw a lot of things which brought him some joy in the last 17 years.’
Nasir outlined his intentions to restore his parents’ gravesite in Kenema, Sierra Leone among other charity work in Sierra Leone.
Nasir has also received welcome support from Twitter users, which he acknowledged on Monday.
‘The support is so overwhelming,’ he said. ‘A lot of people have asked me to set up a go fund me page so here it is. Any support will go a long way. Thanks once again for the love and support from everyone. God bless you all.’
Reading local Nas had high words of praise for Storzmy, tweeting: ‘May God truly bless you, you’re such a humble and genuine person. I can sleep well tonight knowing my dad got the send off he deserved’.
Blinded by your grace: Stormzy (centre) delighted the congregation and fans with his attendance at the service in Reading
Not too big for his boots: The humble artist answered the fan’s wish to perform at the funeral
Shut Up hitmaker Stormzy was praised by fans who said they were blinded by his grace.
One user wrote: ‘That’s a real good thing you did for that lad bro, not enough of that in the world right now’.
Mariama Kallon, Nas’s cousin, told the BBC that Stormzy had arrived with ‘a few members of his team” and performed Blinded By Your Grace, “a family favourite’.
‘Family events for us are very special, whether it be a funeral or wedding,’ she added.
Stormzy with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. More than half of grime music fans backed Labour in this year’s snap election, new research suggests