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Ed Sheeran Surprises Fan With Impromptu Duet At Shopping Mall Fundraiser

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 01:30 PST, Jun 15, 2015

Ed Sheeran lived up to his nice guy image on Sunday, June 14, 2015, when he made a surprise appearance at a fundraising event for the Edmonton Humane Society.

The West Edmonton Mall was the scene of the surprise appearance, which was recorded on video and is now going viral on YouTube.

As Australian 9 News reported, 13-year-old Sydney Bourbeau was singing Ed Sheeran’s breakaway hit “Thinking Out Loud” on stage at the Mall as part of her music school’s fundraiser. Unbeknownst to Bourbeau, Ed Sheeran was in the nearby HMV Store and walked on stage partway through the performance, giving her a quick hug before turning the solo performance into an impromptu duet.

As the video shows, Bourbeau says she was aware that someone had joined her on stage, but just assumed that someone had come to adjust the microphone, reported the Edmonton Journal. It wasn’t until the crowd started cheering that she realized that something was going on, and turned to see Ed Sheeran joining her on stage.

“I was like, should I stop? I didn’t want to stop, but I wanted to talk to him. This is, like, the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

The lucky teenager, who says she’s been singing “forever” but has only been taking singing lessons for less than a year, has been a fan of Ed Sheeran since the release of his studio album in 2011.

Ed Sheeran continued his good deed by making time for some impromptu selfies with fans after leaving the stage. And the surprise didn’t end for Bourbeau either, when she later received a text message from Ed Sheeran’s manager with a surprise offer of two free tickets to Ed Sheeran’s concert at Rexall Place that night.

Resonate Music School, the school where Bourbeau takes her singing lessons and which organized the shopping mall fundraiser, reportedly had no idea that Ed Sheeran would be crashing their event or that he was even in the vicinity. In fact, Michael Cathrea, President of the music school, admitted that he didn’t know that Ed Sheeran had a concert in Edmonton on the same night as their fundraising event.

After the shock duet was over, Cathrea commented about how proud and impressed years with both Ed Sheeran and his own music student.

“That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He happened to be there, she’s singing his song… It was amazing that she was actually able to keep it together and finish. It was shock, as if she had seen a ghost. I was so happy that he did that. It was incredible.”

The fundraiser exceeded all expectations, raising $10,500 for the Edmonton Humane Society.

[Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images]

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