Miley Cyrus Tearfully Pays Tribute to The Voice's Janice Freeman at Memorial Service

Miley Cyrus gave an emotional speech on Monday (March 18) to honor her late friend Janice Freeman at a memorial service.

Janice was a contestant on Miley‘s team on The Voice during the show’s 13th season in 2017. She died at the age of 33 on March 2 due to combined complications of lupus and a bronchial infection.

“Before we sing this song for Janice, I just want to clear up a rumor. I was never her coach, ever, she was always mine,” Miley said in her tearful speech at the memorial, which was streamed live on Facebook. “I’ve learned more from her than anyone that I’ve ever gotten the honor to be in the room with, not just vocally, I should’ve gotten more lessons than I did, but she taught me everything that I know about love.”

“And, to be here, and I had planned on singing a song for her, but just losing her is just too much for me,” she continued. “So my dad’s gonna take care of this for me. But, I’ll always be your sister, I’m here for you, and I’m here for your family, and Janice I’ll miss you more than I could ever say. So, my dad is going to do this for me.”

Billy Ray Cyrus sang “Amazing Grace” in Miley‘s place, but she joined in for a little.

You can watch the moment at the 1:03:29 mark in the video below.