Shonka Dukureh: Last News

Shonka Dukureh, who just made her film debut in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, was found dead in her Nashville, Tenn. apartment on Thursday, police said. She was 44 and was found in her bedroom.

"Elvis" actress Shonka Dukureh, who played Big Mama Thorton, was found dead Thursday in a bedroom at her apartment in Nashville, police confirmed. She was 44.  The Metro Nashville Police Department said there were no signs of foul play.

Actress and singer Shonka Dukureh has died at the age of 44, it has been confirmed.The entertainer made her film debut last month in the blockbuster Elvis, the Elvis Presley biopic also starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler, playing Big Mama Thornton. Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has said Dukureh was found in the bedroom of her apartment and that no foul play is suspected.Dukureh shared the apartment with her two young children and police said one of them found her unresponsive and ran to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm. The neighbour then called emergency services just before 9:30am on Thursday.

Shonka Dukureh, who most recently played the role of Big Mama Thornton in the movie Elvis, has died at the age of 44.

 actress and blues singer Shonka Dukureh was found dead in her Nashville apartment Thursday, ET can confirm. She was 44.According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Dukureh, who played Big Mama Thornton in the Baz Luhrmann production, was found dead Thursday morning, in the bedroom of her apartment that she shared with her two young children.

Hollywood actress and singer Shonka Dukureh has died aged 44.The actress recently made her acting debut in the new Elvis Presley film and was found dead by one of her young children in her Nashville flat on Thursday morning, TMZ has reported.In the new Elvis biopic released last month, Shonka played blues singer Big Mama Thornton.READ MORE:Austin Butler 'went through hell' to play Elvis Presley in new big screen biopicAccording to Nashville police, she was found dead in the bedroom of her Antioch apartment that she shared with her kids.Her child is said to have run to a neighbour's house for help, and 911 was called.They added that no foul play is suspected in her death, though investigators will be awaiting autopsy reports before determining a cause of death.Fans and costars are taking to social media to mourn the actress and singer.Nashville Mayor John Cooper mourned her death with a tweet.He shared his condolences to the loved ones of Shonka and penned: "Her powerful voice and artistry will live on through her music, and we honour her memory on this sad day."One heartbroken fan shared a prayer for Shonka's loved ones on Twitter."Lord, please wrap her babies and loved ones in love and healing," the Twitter user wrote.Another tweeted: "Shonka Dukureh passing away is so heartbreaking. More than just a beautiful voice...

Ellise Shafer Shonka Dukureh, the singer and actor who portrayed Big Mama Thornton in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” was found dead in her Nashville, Tenn. apartment on Thursday, police confirmed. She was 44.According to a tweet from the Metro Nashville Police Department, no foul play is evident in Dukureh’s death.

Rolling Stone, songwriter Jerry Leiber said, “I had to write a song for her that basically said “Go f— yourself,” but how do you do it without actually saying it?”“Her” is Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton and the song Leiber was referring to was her biggest hit, 1952’s “Hound Dog.” On the classic song, she calls out a no-good cheater who just won’t carry his weight. Thornton sings with the spirit of the blues, the power of gospel and serious gusto.The most well-known remake was done by Elvis Presley, who’s 1956 version hit #1 on Billboard’s “Best Selling Popular Records” list. Elvis’ life is the subject of a new, eponymous movie directed by Baz Luhrmann and yes, Big Mama is featured.

Doja Cat has shared the video for her May single “Vegas,” the lead offering from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic, ELVIS, coming to theaters June 24. The soundtrack will arrive the same day via Iona/RCA Records.

Doja Cat has shared the video for her new track ‘Vegas’, which she recorded for the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s new Elvis Presley biopic.The footage, which you can see below, features a cameo by Shonka Dukureh, the singer and actress who plays early rock n roll pioneer Big Mama Thornton in Luhrmann’s Elvis. Thornton’s original version of ‘Hound Dog’ is incorporated into Doja Cat’s new track, and was famously re-recorded by Presley to huge success.Eminem, Tame Impala, Stevie Nicks and Jack White are among the others who will feature on the soundtrack.It will also include “original songs and recordings” by Presley himself along with the film’s star, Austin Butler.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticKacey Musgraves has recorded a version of the 1961 Elvis Presley classic “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for the upcoming soundtrack to director Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” biopic, the singer has revealed.The country-pop star noted that she had covered the song Monday while walking the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala. Musgraves was there with Luhrmann, Priscilla Presley and members of the film’s cast.Details on the soundtrack have been hard to come by before now, with little publicly revealed beyond the fact that the first single from the album, Doja Cat’s “Vegas,” which includes an interpolation of the Presley hit “Hound Dog.” will be out this Friday.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticDoja Cat’s single from Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” soundtrack, “Vegas,” has been given a release date — May 6 — after the singer-rapper debuted a live version of the tune at the Coachella festival over the last two weekends.The single precedes a full film companion album that has loosely been scheduled for summer by RCA, it was also announced Monday. That label news is not exactly unexpected, since RCA has been Elvis Presley’s label home since the late 1950s.Although “Vegas” is an original song, live snippets reveal the Doja Cat track does incorporate a Presley classic, “Hound Dog.” (Fans may have to wait till May 6 to find out whether “Viva Las Vegas” also appears in the final studio version, as might be expected from the title.) Luhrmann was out at Coachella for its second weekend, supporting three artists associated with “Elvis” as a film or soundtrack — including Yola, who plays Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the movie, and Shonka Dukureh, who portrays Big Mama Thornton, as well as Doja Cat.

EXCLUSIVE: Four-time Grammy-winning recording artist Gary Clark Jr. is set to play American blues singer-songwriter Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and four-time Grammy nominee Yola will play musical icon, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, in the Baz Luhrmann-directed Warner Bros Elvis biopic, which is currently shooting in Australia.