Australian entertainer Tim Minchin has paid tribute to his late mum Ros at a Sydney performance, just hours after she died after a three-year battle with blood cancer.
The Perth-raised comedian shocked the 200-strong crowd at the State Theatre in Sydney on Friday night by sharing the tragic family announcement on stage.
During the show, Minchin shared stories about his mum, including her diagnosis with terminal blood cancer in 2020, and played a variety of songs he had written about her.
A standing ovation from the crowd prompted the performer to announce she had died on Thursday, and he had decided to go ahead with the show anyway.
“My mum died yesterday,” he said.
Minchin launched in an emotional performance of his festive hit White Wine in the Sun, before ending the show by asking the audience to help him sing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
In a notice in The West Australian, Minchin’s family paid tribute to Ros after she passed away peacefully on 9 November.
“She loved and nurtured so, so many people,” the notice read. “We feel incredibly lucky to have had – to continue to have – her in our lives.
“Rozzie, the clan is gathering, and we are going to be OK.”
Minchin took to social media on Monday with a simple tribute, and a photo of his mum which read: “So it goes.”