Jamal Edwards, who nurtured UK musical talent, dead at 31

London (AP) — Jamal Edwards, a British music entrepreneur who helped launch the careers of artists including Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and Stormzy, has died.

He was 31. His mother, broadcaster Brenda Edwards, said Monday that her son died the day before after a sudden illness. She said the family was “completely devastated. He was the center of our world.” Edwards founded the online music channel SBTV as a teenager in 2006.

Frustrated that he could not find the music he loved online, he began filming performances by friends in his west London neighborhood.

SBTV now has more than 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube and has helped a generation of performers gain national and international attention. “It was a frustration of going to school and everyone talking about ‘How do we get our videos on MTV,’” Edwards later recalled.

“YouTube was like a year old. I was like ‘I’ve got a camera for Christmas, I’m going to start filming people and uploading it.’ “Everyone was looking at me like ‘what are you doing, like you can compete with these major corporations.’

But I think I was early enough to believe that I could make a change.” Edwards was given an MBE, an honour from the queen, in 2014 for services to music and was an ambassador for Prince Charles’ charity, the Prince’s Trust.