Ed Sheeran reveals his special ritual for late Australian music mogul

The British singer has revealed the unique and rather eccentric way he honours his friend, late Aussie music mogul Michael Gudinski.

Ed Sheeran has a unique way of paying tribute to late Australian music legend Michael Gudinski.

The British singer, 33, worked closely with Gudinski for many years via the local executive’s Mushroom Group empire, which was Sheeran’s local tour promoter.

The duo formed a close friendship being in business together, and now, following Gudinski’s death aged 68 in 2021, Sheeran has revealed the special ritual he holds for the celebrated music mogul in the privacy of his UK home.

Ed Sheeran with Michael Gudinski. Picture: Supplied

Michael Gudinski with his daughter Kate, who hosts the five-part podcast series 'Gudinski'.

Speaking on Gudinski, a five-part LiSTNR podcast series hosted by the Aussie icon’s daughter Kate, the Grammy winner discussed the eccentric present gifted to him by Gudinski several years ago, which has particularly poignant meaning in the wake of his death.

After Sheeran’s 2018 tour ÷ broke a record for selling over one million tickets in Australia and New Zealand, Gudinski offered Sheeran an expensive Rolex watch as a gift, which the Shape of You musician politely declined.

Instead, Sheeran requested Gudinski commission a statue of himself and ship it over to his British home, which has since had pride of place in the custom-built pub inside his house.

One of Gudinski’s statue hands was carved specifically to hold a glass of wine, allowing Sheeran to share a tipple with his late friend.

“The night that he passed away, I woke up at half [past] three to the phone call and the first thing I did is I went into the wine cellar, picked out the wine that I bought for him, staying at my house the year before and went and had a drink with the statue,” Sheeran said.

“And it was just a really nice thing. And that’s what I do on his birthday, what I did on the day of my album release, on the day of my single release, I just go and have a drink with him and I feel very fortunate to be able to have this thing in my house.”

Gudinski and Sheeran became close friends over the years. Picture: Matt Jelonek/WireImage

Despite their almost four-decade age difference, Sheeran said Gudinski always came out on top as the life of the party.

“I actually don’t think there’s anyone like Michael in the music business. I mean, the music business is like, full of eccentrics, but, like, the bloke had his own gravitational pull,” Sheeran said.

“Every single person, from people that worked on my tour who were in the music industry, to my friends who weren’t in [the business], he would just come and hang out with me and my mates on nights out.

“And everyone was just obsessed with him. He just had this aura of fun at all times.

“And he was just bonkers. There’s no one else like him. He can turn a night from a really quiet dinner in a Chinese restaurant to chaos.”

You can listen to Gudinski wherever you get your podcasts.