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Justin Bieber is mourning a beloved family member today.
The pop icon shared the sad news that his maternal grandfather, Bruce Dale, has passed away.
Dale was 80 years old.
Justin Bieber pays tribute to the late Bruce Dale
In a lengthy Instagram post, Justin fondly reflected on his grandfather’s life and legacy.
“Papa, I always took all ur money lol. I remember u specifically telling me, gramma gave u an allowance of 20 dollars for the WEEK!” Bieber recalled.
“I would always convince you to spend on snacks at the hockey game on Friday nights. Reluctantly you always gave it to me. Corn nuts, skittles, gum balls, chuck a puck, slush puppies,” the singer wrote, before sharing memories of Dale’s contentious relationship with a trio of youth hockey refs.
“Shout out to the jr b referees Beatty, Fagon, Flanagan lmfao. For enduring all of my grandpa’s heckling for all of your horrible referee calls lmfao. My grandpa wasn’t shy in letting them know that they were being pieces of s—s,” he continued.
“I can’t wait to see u again soon in heaven. Until then I know ur watching down probly still heckling Beatty or Fagon for missing that cross check call in the corner there lmfao.
“I will miss u. I will ache. And I’ll sit and let myself remember all of the wonderful times we’ve had.”
The closeness of Justin and Bruce’s relationship has been well documented over the years.
In a poignant 2018 interview, Bruce opened up about how emotional he gets when Justin’s name is mentioned in conversation.
“I don’t know,” he said at the time. “It just happens. I can sit and talk with anybody about anything, but when it comes to talking about him, I just get emotional.”
A trying time for Justin Bieber
Bruce’s death comes at a time when Justin’s behavior has left fans concerned about the state of his mental health.
The singer has been clashing with paparazzi and generally behaving erratically in public. Many fans have encouraged the new dad to take a break from Los Angeles, but Justin recently shot down that idea:
“Everyone telling me to move from La,” he wrote on Instagram. “U think I’m gonna get bullied to leave where my influence is most needed? How can we make a change if we run away from the darkness?”
Bieber added that he’s “been caught up in the transactional nature of Hollywood” but refuses to give up by relocating.
Our thoughts go out to Justin and his loved ones during this enormously difficult time.
