Corinne Bailey Rae was seen out yesterday leaving a posy at the foot of a huge cross in memory of her husband.  It is the first time Corinne has emerged from her home since the death of  Jason Rae last Saturday.

The heartbroken singer was comforted by friends as she laid a bunch of heather at the 32ft cross which overlooks Otley in  West Yorkshire.

Mark Ronson, a friend of Jason’s said “It’s such a sad, sad thing, I’m sorry that I can’t put anything into words.  However, I will say that he was an incredible dude, a lovely gentle man, one of the funniest f****ing people ever.”

An inquest heard yesterday that Jason, 31 years old, died from a suspected overdose.

Friends have said that recently Jason had been on a path of self-destruction, binging on drink and drugs up until his death.  His drinking and drug taking was claimed to cause problems for the marriage as his wife is a Baptist and neighbours reported that she refused to let him into their Leeds flat if he came home in a state but insisted that their marriage was strong.

Jason played the saxophone in a band called the Haggis Horns and they were becoming very successful  and had also backed Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson.  The band had just returned from a three month tour and Jason had a night out with his old friend Jim.  Apparently, they went out on an all day bender in Leeds on Good Friday and then took some wine back to Jim’s flat.

A friend said “They carried on drinking and then crashed out,  Jim went to his bedroom and Jason slept on the sofa.  Jim didn’t wake up till after dinner the next day and thought Jase was still asleep.”

The police were called at around 3.15pm, but Jason was already dead.  A 32 year old man was then arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and was bailed.