Gwen Stefani Remembers Late Songwriter Busbee: ‘Truly the Definition of a Good Human’

Songwriter and producer Busbee recently passed away after being diagnosed with brain cancer, and he has since been remembered on social media by a number of his friends and collaborators, including Gwen Stefani.

On Monday, Sept. 30, Stefani used Instagram to pay tribute to her friend, sharing a trio of photos of herself, Busbee and Blake Shelton.

“I loved him so much! One of my favorite humans I’ve ever come to know in this life – we wrote some of my favorite music I’ve ever written- he was truly the definition of a good human – living his life sharing his gift w all of us -full of love talent and faith,” she shared in her caption. “Beyond broken today. Shattered. @blakeshelton thank u for introducing me to this legend- we r going to miss our friend see u up there Busbee. #Genius #ILOVEUANDUKNOWIT.”

Busbee, whose real name was Michael James Ryan, and Stefani co-produced Stefani’s 2017 Christmas album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, and Busbee co-wrote the six original songs on the project. Busbee had met the couple after he co-wrote Shelton’s song “Every Goodbye” from The Voice coach’s 2016 album If I’m Honest.

In addition to the photos, Stefani posted a video of Busbee in the recording studio as Shelton stood in the vocal booth and sang his part of his and Stefani’s duet, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas.”

“I love u @Busbee Gx #youmakeitfeellikechristmas,” Stefani wrote

The mom of three also used her Instagram Story to share a series of photos of herself and Busbee from their time working together. “@busbee thank u for being my friend love u,” one of the photos read.

Shelton had previously shared his own tribute to Busbee, tweeting, “I absolutely can’t accept the loss of mine and Gwen’s friend Michael (Busbee). Too much to say for social media. Too much pain and unfairness period. I guess sometimes you gotta dig extra EXTRA deep for peace to continue to have faith. And I will because Michael ALWAYS had faith.”

The 43-year-old’s death was first reported on Sunday night. A friend of Busbee’s told Variety that the producer, real name Michael James Ryan, was undergoing treatment for Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, after being diagnosed over the summer. Busbee leaves behind wife Jessie and three children, including a newborn daughter.

Photo Credit: Getty / Gabe Ginsberg