Noel Gallagher paid tribute to his friend Caroline Aherne during a Nashville gig with his band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds on Saturday.

Just a few hours after news of Aherne's death broke, Gallagher took to the stage to perform a heartfelt rendition of Oasis track 'Half the World Away', which was used as the theme tune for Aherne's popular sitcom The Royle Family.

"The following song is for a friend of mine who died this afternoon," Gallagher told the crowds. "Her name was Caroline and she was a very, very, very funny woman.

"She used this next song on a very, very, very, very brilliant sit-com in England called The Royle Family."

After a brief pause before beginning the song, Gallagher pointed up to the sky and added: "To wherever you are."

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Earlier in the day, the singer also shared a photo of Aherne on his Instagram page and added in the caption that he vowed to sing for her.

"RIP Kaz," he wrote. "I shall sing for you tonight. (My God you made us laugh!)"

Aherne passed away on Saturday (July 2) at the age of 52 following a battle with cancer.

Her Royle Family co-stars Ricky Tomlinson and Ralf Little were among those who led the tributes to the comedy icon, while BBC One aired the first episode of her comedy chat show The Mrs Merton Show on Saturday night in her memory.