Melbourne, July 21 : Australian singer Delta Goodrem rushed home from the UK after learning about the sudden death of one of her oldest and best friends.

The 24-year-old songbird, who was scheduled to fly to New York for songwriting sessions, cut short her leg of trip to attend the unnamed man''s funeral.

"Grief is hard to put into words. I lost one of my life-long dear friends today, it was so sudden and shocking. I will miss him deeply. xxx!" The Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying on her Twitter page.

She later added: "Apologies for the emotional Tweet! Tell all your friends and family how much they mean to you."

A spokeswoman for the star declined to reveal the friend''s identity or cause of death, but said he was not from the music industry. (ANI)