British pop singer George Ezra, who is known for his hit songs Budapest and Shotgun, told a U.K radio station that one lyric change made in his jubilee set came at the request of the palace itself.

Speaking to Ezra on BBC Radio 1 on Friday, show host Greg James said:

“A lot of listeners messaged me on Monday morning saying ‘Oh my god, did you see that George had to change his lyrics?’”

To which the singer responded that he’d been asked to change one specific line from one of his hits which contained the word “die.”

“You get the call to play—very flattering,” he said, “and then it comes down the line, you can’t sing ‘on the day that I die’. So, you kind of smile and you’re like, of all of the clients, you’re not going to push back on the royals.”

James then clarified that the song which had the change requested was the hit Green Green Green Grass.

“Yeah,[the original lyric is] ‘you better throw a party on the day that I die’” Ezra explained.

“My gut said when I was asked to change it… I think that’s going to make it more bait. I think not singing it is going to draw attention to it but OK. When we first rehearsed it, we were laughing a lot.”

Ezra was not the only musician who changed the words to one of their hits to make them more appropriate for the jubilee concert.

Alicia Keys, singer of Girl on Fire and Superwoman, made a dramatic change to her song Empire State of Mind, altering the closing verses to reference London instead of New York.

Keys’ inclusion of the song, which is a self-confessed love letter to New York, drew confusion on social media with one Twitter user writing: “Still not over the fact that Alicia Keys decided to sing ‘in New Yoooork’ right next to Buckingham Palace, and organizers of this Platinum Jubilee had no issues whatsoever with this setlist.”

Keys hit back at any questioning over the setlist of her jubilee performance claiming after the fact that the queen herself approved the song choice.

In a post to her Instagram account, the singer wrote: “Epic night at the jubilee!! Celebrating the Queen and all the Queens!!!! ‘She’s got her feet on the ground and she’s burning it down!’

“FYI: Every song was requested personally by the Queen. Even EMPIRE!!”

Other artists on the bill for the jubilee tribute to the 96-year-old monarch included Sir Elton John, Sir Rod Stewart and Diana Ross, who hadn’t performed in Britain for 15 years.

One artist who paid a special tribute to the queen during his performance was Britain’s Eurovision hero Sam Ryder, who came in second place during the song contest’s 2022 final in Italy last month.

At the end of his performance of the song Spaceman, Ryder gestured towards the royal box where Prince William, Kate Middleton and other members of the royal family were seated and changed the lyric to “Spacema’am.”

The concert became the most-watched live television event of the year in the U.K with 13.3 million Brits tuning in to watch the celebration which included a special two-minute cameo from the queen herself acting in a skit with Paddington Bear.

Both Prince William and Prince Charles gave speeches during the event paying tribute to the monarch with Charles opening with his traditional form of address: “Your Majesty, Mummy” which got a wave of applause from the crowd.

The prince closed his remarks by saying: “You have been with us in our difficult times. And you bring us together to celebrate moments of pride, joy and happiness,

“You have met us and talked with us. You laugh and cry with us and, most importantly, you have been there for us, for these seventy years. You pledged to serve your whole life – you continue to deliver. That is why we are here. That is what we celebrate tonight.

“These pictures on your house are the story of your life - and ours. So, Your Majesty, that is why we all say ’thank you’.”