TCS Director swaps boardroom for recording studio to create song celebrating baby daughter’s ‘Big Little Life’
A little girl who died from a rare cancer at the age of just one year and 19 days has helped create the artwork for a song celebrating her own life.
Celine Ziff’s painting, created with her twin brother Jesse and older sister Luna, has become the cover of Big Little Life (Cece’s Song) – written in her memory by her father, Ben Ziff, a Director at TCS, and singer-songwriter Bertie.
A story of love and joy
The song celebrates the joy, personality and love Celine brought to her family during her short life, with all proceeds supporting Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in London, which cared for her.
Celine had an extrarenal rhabdoid tumour – an extremely rare and aggressive condition that affects just one in 12 million children globally – and spent seven months of her life being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
“This is not a sad song, although it comes from a very sad story. 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 Ziff (Father of CeCe)
A short video of the children creating the artwork plays when the song is streamed on Spotify.
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.
Together with his wife Sophia, Celine’s mum, he wanted to create a series of legacy projects that would celebrate their daughter’s personality, happiness and the impact she had on everyone around her.
Bertie, a singer-songwriter whose music has attracted hundreds of thousands of listens across platforms including Spotify and iTunes, 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 and spent 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 write a song about Celine, I initially didn’t know whether I could do it.
“Working on this became a second process of grief after losing my mum. It was incredibly uplifting, and there were a lot of parallels between our experiences.
“From the beginning, we knew we didn’t want this to be a sad song. It needed to feel true to Celine and do something meaningful for her. I’m very proud of what we’ve created.”
The song was produced by Ru Lemer, who has worked with artists including Tom Grennan, Foals and Nile Rodgers.
It was mastered at London’s famous Air Studios by Grammy-winning mastering engineer John Webber, who has worked on five UK number ones and with artists such as Olivia Dean, David Bowie, Elton John and Duran Duran.
Ben, Bertie and Ru all feature on vocals on the final recording.
A lasting legacy in music
Ben said Big Little Life (Cece’s Song) is the first of several legacy projects he hopes to create in Celine’s memory.
He 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.”