Christine Haveford
Rapper Stormzy made an incredible gesture of good will as he performed at the funeral of a fan’s father.
The popular grime artist turned up at the Reading, Berkshire service to rap his hit single ‘Blinded By Your Grace’ after a request asking him to attend on Twitter.
Secondary school P.E teacher Nasir Bockarie asked the 24-year-old on social media to perform his dad’s favourite song.
He praised the MOBO winning artist for giving him ‘the send off he deserved’.
Reaching out to Stormzy on Twitter – Nasir – known online as @GodsSonNB7 – 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’
The humble artist who is followed on Twitter by 1.08M people – humbly responded to Nasir within two days.
He then took to the stage at the service, complete with backing singers.
Nas wrote: ‘I’m actually speechless, praise god for humanity.’
On his GoFundMe page, Nasir sadly revealed that his father had passed away at the Royal Berkshire hospital in Reading.
His father died 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.’
He bravely battled two strokes in 2000 and a kidney transplant in 2008.
‘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,’ he wrote.
‘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.’
The graduate now intends to restore his parents’ gravesite in Kenema and volunteer for a charity in Sierra Leone.
Nasir was flooded with support and condolences from Twitter users.
‘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.’
Nasir also thanked 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’.
The ‘First Things First’ hitmaker was also praised by fans who were in awe at his kind gesture.
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.
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