‘My little girl died just after her first birthday - now I'm sharing the extraordinary joy she brought us’
‘She had a little life, but it was a big little life’
A Leeds businessman has released a moving song in tribute to his late daughter, celebrating the extraordinary joy she packed into just one year and 19 days of life.
Ben Ziff, managing director of car park operator CitiPark and a board director of Leeds-based property group Town Centre Securities, lost his daughter Celine just after her first birthday.
Celine had an extrarenal rhabdoid tumour - a rare and aggressive cancer that affects just one in 12 million children globally - and spent seven months of her life being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Now Ben has released Big Little Life (Cece’s Song), co-written with singer-songwriter Bertie, which celebrates the joy, personality and love Celine brought to her family during her short life.
“This is not a sad song, although it comes from a very sad story,” Ben said.
“There was so much joy in Celine’s life. She had a huge personality, she demanded attention and she made an enormous impact on all of us.
“As a family we wanted to create something that captures who she really was.
“My only endeavour was not to become a victim of the grief. I wanted to tell Celine’s story and create something positive that celebrates her life and forms part of her legacy.
“I’m reaching the point where I feel so lucky and happy to have known her.”
Ben, who plays drums as a hobby but had never written a song before, approached Bertie in September 2025 with the idea of creating a song in Celine’s memory.
Bertie, a London-based singer-songwriter who has performed at Glastonbury Festival, had experienced his own loss after his mother Yvonne died from leukaemia in April 2024.
He had previously written a song called Kin about his mother and he and Ben began writing together just weeks after Celine’s death, spending six months creating Big Little Life (Cece’s Song).
Bertie said: “When someone passes away people often say, ‘If there is anything I can do, let me know.’
“When Ben asked me to work with him on writing a song about Celine, initially I didn’t know whether I could do it.
“But working on this together was like a second processing of my own grief after losing my mum. It was an incredibly uplifting experience.
“There needed to be a truth to it. It needed to genuinely do something for this little person.
“It feels like an authentic representation of a part of Celine’s legacy and I’m so proud of what we have created.”
Together with his wife Sophia, Celine’s mum, Ben wants Big Little Life (Cece’s Song) to be the first of several legacy projects celebrating their daughter’s life.
The artwork for the single features a painting created by Celine with her twin brother Jesse and older sister Luna while she was still alive.
Ben added: “She was only with our family for one year and 19 days, but the happiness she brought and the impact she had were enormous.
“She had a little life, but it was a big little life.”
Big Little Life (Cece’s Song) is now available to download through iTunes and streaming platforms including Spotify.
All proceeds will support Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in North London, which cared for Celine and her family.