If you recently saw the biopic dedicated to Elvis Presley, with Austin Butler, it was impossible to miss Shonka Dukureh with his incredibly powerful voice. She was a trainable gospel singer and actress. Interpreter of the great Big Mama Thornton, she had impressed the critics.
Found dead this Thursday in the bedroom of her apartment by one of her two young children, who lived with her, she was then picked up by her neighbors before the police were called. If no one has yet ventured on the official causes of her death, pending the autopsy which should arrive in the coming days, we already know that she would not have been killed.
But then, what happened to make this woman full of life, who also taught at a small school in Nashville, dies so suddenly? For the moment, no one knows, but her students should mourn her for a long time, they who had gone to the cinema to see her play in Elvis.
Moreover, this year, she had also realized another of her dreams this year: to go on the stage of the Coachella festival for a live performance with Doja Cat, who had worked with her on the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s film. . Asked by WLPN after her song, she made everyone laugh: “I was asked ‘aren’t you nervous? Because there are at least 70,000 people in the audience there. I said ‘I’ve come too far now to be nervous, it’s show time now and I can’t go back!“
And in an interview, given a few days later, she was able to express how enriching these experiences had been for her: “It’s all amazing and I can’t wait to do it again. It’s just a dream, I didn’t even know it was my dream, until I was really there. It’s the chance of a lifetime, an overwhelming experience.“