‘One bad reaction destroys lives’: Loose Women star Brenda Edwards reveals her music mogul son Jamal, 31, died after taking ‘recreational drugs’ – as inquest hears he became ‘agitated’ before suffering heart attack at her home
- The music entrepreneur, who was awarded an MBE in 2014, died in February
- His mother Brenda has revealed that he took drugs before his sudden death
Music mogul Jamal Edwards died from a sudden heart attack caused by drugs, his devastated mother revealed today.
Brenda Edwards said she has been left in a state of shock after learning the cause of her only son’s death four months ago.
The music mogul died in February, aged just 31, following a ‘sudden heart attack’ at the Acton home he shared with his mother after DJing the night before.
Brenda, a Loose Women panellist who finished fourth in the second series of The X Factor, is mourning Jamal’s death with his sister Tanisha. The YouTube star, 31, was a close friend of Ed Sheeran and Stormzy.
She said in a statement: ‘We have been so incredibly touched by the outpouring of love and support, and you are all helping us try and get through the unimaginable.
‘I have sadly learned that the cause of Jamal’s devastating passing was due to cardiac arrhythmia caused by having taken recreational drugs and I wanted to address this myself to everyone who loved, admired and respected my son’.
The singer previously described her son’s untimely death as ‘sudden and unexpected’, explaining that he ‘went into a cardiac arrest and then he passed with me holding his hand.’
She spoke out as the inquest into his death opened in west London, which heard he ‘came home late one evening, after which he became increasingly agitated and suffered a cardiac arrest’. He died on February 20. The case has been adjourned for eight weeks.
Brenda Edwards, the Loose Women star Brenda Edwards (pictured together on the show in November 2021), said she and his family and friends are all devastated
The last photo of Jamal, DJ’ing hours before he died in his sleep at home
Brenda Edwards revealed the cause of her son’s death today, as an inquest opened
How Jamal Edwards launched the careers of some of Britain’s biggest stars from a YouTube channel set up in his bedroom when he was 15 and working in Topman
Jamal was 15 when his mother Brenda bought him extra special Christmas present – a £200 video camera.
YouTube had just been launched and Jamal, who like most teenagers spent hours in his bedroom online, decided to upload some footage of foxes in his back garden. ‘I thought I was Steve Irwin,’ he said in an interview with MailOnline.
But when the footage got 1,000 views, he realised he was on to something.
He went out on to the estate and made some clips of his friends, most of whom were into grime – the music style now defined by stars such as Dizzee Rascal and Skepta.
‘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 said. He took his own rap moniker ‘Smokey Barz’ to coin his brand name and SBTV was born.
Jamal began his Topman career as a shop assistant but at the same time started hanging out at the BBC, sneaking into raves and messaging record labels to beg for interview time with their artists. His big break came three years later when he secured his first non-grime interview with Kelly Rowland.
From that, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz and countless other A-listers followed. In 2011, he was invited to 10 Downing Street to interview the prime minister after being appointed a Spirit of London Awards ambassador.
Jamal was still hands-on with both filming and editing at SBTV, and had big plans to expand the brand into sport, comedy and fashion.
Away from work his great passion was Chelsea FC.
‘Since finding out I’ve been in a state of shock and I’m still trying to process it, but it’s so important that i do address it as no mother or any loved one shopuld have to go through what Jamal’s sister Tanisha, and I have been through since he passed.
She said that drugs are ‘unpredictable’ and ‘Jamal is proof that this can happen to anyone.
‘I would do anything tp have my son back but this is not possible so if I can help save one life, then we will have achieved something. His passing has shown that any one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences’.
She described her son as having had the ‘world at his fingertips – a zest for life and he was unwittingly taken away far too soon’.
‘Yet we have to come to terms with what has happened, and Jamal is proof that this can happen to anyone.’
She wrote: ‘These types of substances are extremely unpredictable, and we can only hope that this will encourage others to think wisely when faced with similar situations in the future. His passing has shown that any one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences.
‘It’s so important that we help drive more conversation about the unpredictability of recreational drugs and the impact that they can have – how it takes just one bad reaction to destroy lives.
‘I would do anything to have my son back but that is just not possible so if I can help save one life, then we will have achieved something.’
The inquest heard that Jamal died on February 20 after having a heart attack at his mother’s address in Acton.
Assistant Coroner Catherine Wood said: ‘He came home late one evening, after which he became increasingly agitated and suffered a cardiac arrest.
‘He was deteriorating despite treatment and died on February 20 of this year.
‘A post-mortem has been undertaken and I have reason to suspect that the death was an unnatural death.’
The inquest was adjourned to be resumed in eight weeks’ time.
Jamal’s death sparked an outpouring of grief from friends, fans and those he inspired.
He used his wages from Topman to buy a £200 camcorder. He used it to launch a YouTube channel that sparked successful careers for many stars including Dizzee Rascal and Skepta
Crowds of fans and loved-ones gathered at a candlelit vigil in west London to pay tribute to music mogul Jamal who died in February.
The SBTV founder gained fame after setting up the new music platform in 2006, and was credited with helping to launch a string of UK music acts to stardom, including Ed Sheeran, Dave and Jessie J. Mourners lined the streets on Monday evening next to the mural of Mr Edwards on Acton High Street.
His friends said relatives had told them he was found by his mother, who called London Ambulance Service who dispatched two paramedics but could not save him.
The hosts of Loose Women broke down live on air as they described their grief after the death of the DJ – who was the son of their co-star Brenda Edwards.
Charlene White’s voice cracked and Judi Love wiped away tears as they described visiting her at her home yesterday, hours after his death was announced.
And in a tribute from the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, Clarence House tweeted: ‘Thinking of the family of Jamal Edwards.
‘His work in music but also as an ambassador for a new generation, including his work for The Prince’s Trust, were an inspiration to so many.’
Dozens of friends who had grown up with Edwards laid flowers below a mural on a wall in honour of his contribution to the local community.
They claimed he had suffered a sudden heart attack, at the home he shares with his mother in Acton.
Jamal Edwards’ heartbroken mother Brenda sings to the crowds at the vigil in his memory in Acton, West London
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