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Family photo
The mother of Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire has died days after he pulled out of the band's headline performance at the BBC's Biggest Weekend.
At the time the band said he was unable to perform "due to a serious family illness".
In a tweet on Friday his brother, the poet Patrick Jones, said Irene Jones, 81, had died from leukaemia.
"There's a new bright star in the sky tonight," he tweeted.
"Our dear mother Irene Jones passed away today after a long brave battle with leukaemia."
Mrs Jones was the author of two books - a collection of poems called Night Photographs and also Sam's Journey which tells of the protests against the Blackwood bypass from the perspective of her beloved dog.
Wire, from Blackwood, Caerphilly county, is a founding member of the Manic Street Preachers.
BBC Music's Biggest Weekend took place in Belfast, Coventry, Perth and Swansea last weekend.
A member of the band's road crew stood in for Wire at the Belfast gig.