Jamal Edwards MBE – who founded the online urban music platform SB.TV – has reportedly died at the age of 31
Music pioneer Jamal Edwards MBE – credited with launching the careers of a number of music artists and inspiring a generation – has died, aged 31.
The entrepreneur was the founder of the online urban music platform SB.TV and the son of Loose Women star Brenda Edwards.
His pioneering work in the music industry led him to become friends with several celebs – including Ed Sheeran, Will.i.am, Professor Green and Rio Ferdinand.
Tributes have been pouring in on social media for the author who was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours list in 2014 for his work in music and his business – including from his mum’s TV co-star Denise Welch.
The telly star typed: “My heart aches for my friend Brenda. I can’t bear it. Jamal Edwards was a wonderful son and brother.”
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Loose Women star Brenda Edwards’ son Jamal Edwards has died (
Image:
jamaledwards/Instagram)
He founded SB.TV (
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@jamaledwards/Instagram)
A fan added: “A pioneer in taking Black British music and culture digital via SBTV. Thank you for being the helm of visual content and a home for artists that didn’t feel seen in the mainstream. The impact is felt and will be for generations to come. An eternal talent. RIP Jamal Edwards.”
A second penned: “A true pioneer. Such sad news. Rest in peace, Jamal Edwards.”
“This is devastating news. RIP to the cultural behemoth that was Jamal Edwards. I seriously cannot believe we’ve lost such an important and universally loved figure in Black British culture,” another devastated fan joined in.
His cause of death has not be revealed.
Just three days ago, Jamal took to Instagram to upload a throwback snap of himself and hitmaker Ed Sheeran.
“Happy Birthday to the OG, Ed. Blessed to have you in my life brother. You know you’ve been mates a long time when you lose count on the years! Keep smashing it & inspiring us all G!” he penned in the birthday tribute.
He helped launch Ed Sheeran’s career (
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jamaledwards/Instagram)
He was friends with lots of famous faces – including Professor Green (
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Getty Images)Earlier this month he attended the BRIT awards and posed on the red carpet dressed in an eye-catching mustard yellow coloured suit.
He shared posts on social media following the biggest night in music business calendar.
Jamal – who grew up on an estate in Acton, West London – was destined for success after his mum gave him a £200 video camera for Christmas when he was 15.
Will.i.am was also a pal of the mogul (
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Getty Images Europe)
YouTube had just been launched and Jamal decided to upload some footage of foxes in his back garden and soon was astounded to see the clip got 1,000 views.
Understanding that the platform could be his way to success he went on to film his friend on the estate he lived on performing grime music.
“Back then, there was no place to showcase our sort of spitting and rapping, so I thought, OK, I want to create that platform,” he told MailOnline in 2013.
It took a while for Jamal’s idea to take off and in the meantime his mum made him get a job at Topman.
In his free time away from the shop floor he started hanging out at the BBC, sneaking into raves and messaging record labels to beg for interview time with their artists.
Three years later when he secured his first non-grime interview with Kelly Rowland – which kickstarted his career as he went on to interview big names including Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz.
Jamal accomplished a lot in his life including being featured in the ES Power 1000 – London’s most influential people 2013 – as well as being chosen to be the ambassador for the youth charity, The Prince’s Trust in 2013.
The following year he was listed as number 2 in The Guardian’s The top 30 young people in digital media and TIME Magazine named Edwards as one of their ‘Next Generation Leaders.
In 2015, he was awarded the Best New StartUp from Virgin Media and Virgin StartUp as well as being named in Debrett’s list of the 500 most influential people in Britain in the New Media section.
2016 saw the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) inducted Edwards into its Hall of Fame and he was crowned as one of GQ Magazine’s 100 Most Connected Men of All Time.
Jamal was given an MBE in 2014 (
Image:
Getty Images)In 2021, Jamal was appointed Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Sussex in September 2021 and the same year the University of West London gave him an honorary degree.
Jamal also fronted a documentary about mental health in the music industry.
Sharing on battling with anxiety, the businessman said: “Anxiety comes over me at the most random times. I wanted to create awareness. As much as music is my entry point, I feel a responsibility to talk about these other issues. I wanted to get people talking to each other and they have been, I’m happy.”
