George Ezra explains ‘unnecessary’ decision to censor song lyric about dying at Queen’s Jubilee concert

Decision to remove the lyric was lampooned on social media

George Ezra has explained why he censored his own song lyric about dying during his performance at the Queen’s platinum jubilee concert.

The musician performed his hit song “Green Green Grass” at the event, which took place outside Buckingham Palace on Saturday (4 June).

However, his fans noticed that the singer omitted the lyrics: “You better throw a party on the day that I die.”

At the time, it was unclear whether he had decided to leave the lyrics out himself or whether he was asked to, but it became clear the choice was made due to the Queen’s age of 96.

In a new interview, to mark the release of his new album Gold Rush Kid, Ezra revealed it was the latter.

“I don’t know if it came from the royals or the producers of the show, but it’s pretty obvious that if you’re playing for the royal family and the powers that be say, ‘We don’t want you to sing that lyric,’ then you’re not going to argue,” he told The Sun.

He continued: “My gut instinct was that you don’t need to change it.”

Acknowledging the lampooning of the decision on social media, Ezra stated: “I think the reaction to it has kind of worked in our favour to say it was unnecessary.”

George Ezra performing at the Queen’s jubilee concert (Getty Images)

The concert was held in aid of the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, and was just one of the several events to happen over a four-day period.

The ceremony kickstarted in heartwarming fashion as the Queen opposite Ben Whishaw’s Paddington Bear, where she showed off her acting skills for a “cute” skit.

Meanwhile, comedian Lee Mack ad-libbed a joke about the Partygate scandal – in front of Boris Johnson himself – while Stephen Fry made a comment about prime ministers that drew gasps from the crowd.

Find The Independent’s review of Ezra’s new record here.