Daniel O’Donnell paid tribute to his bandmate and long-time friend Ronnie Kennedy as he sang at the musician's funeral on Wednesday.
Ronnie played the accordion and keyboards with Daniel's band for decades and sadly passed away on Friday following a long battle with cancer.
Taking to Facebook, Daniel shared the sad news.
He said: “It is with great sadness that I write this message. To let you know that my good friend Ronnie Kennedy passed away this morning. Rip.
“Ronnie had been ill for some time and his wife Fran and all his family wanted me to thank you for your prayers during this time.
“As you know Ronnie was part of my band for over 30 years. We shared some wonderful times together and I have great memories of all the many things we did.
“I am very grateful that I got to spend some precious time with Ronnie last Friday to say goodbye.
“Our loss is heavens gain. There will be great music and laughter in heaven now that Ronnie is there.
“My deepest sympathy to his wife Fran, His children Alan, Karen, Gary, Derek and Laura. His grandchildren and all his extended family.
“Rest In Peace ‘Grandad’.”
Throughout the service, Daniel performed emotional renditions of In The Garden, Remember Me, Rainbow’s End and The Rare Ould Times.
Ronnie’s son spoke about his dad remembering his kind and loving father.
He said: "So here I go. Ronnie, as we all know, is an incredibly gifted musician, but our dad was an even more brilliant person than he was an artist.
“He was a positive person for sure, and dad lived by the principle of kindness and generosity and always went out of his way to make people feel better.
“I’ve never known anyone consciously try and spread happiness as much as our dad.”
“To say please, ah thanks or he or she is lovely, nobody did it as much as he did.
“Even when dying his last few days, when talking to the wonderful carers, all he repeatedly said to them was, I’m dead on.
“Dead on, buddy, jeepers, janeymac, they’re all phrases that became embedded in the legacy of our dad.”
Showing Ronnie's well known funny side, he said: "He also, however, had a few clangers, or what my mam, Laura and Karen called Ronnnieisms and they were the LSD lights instead of the LED lights, and throughout Covid, it was consistently lock up instead of lockdown."
Ronnie will be sadly missed by his family, friends and all those within the music industry, which he loved.
