Doja Cat is among many to mourn the death of musician and actress Shonka Dukureh, who passed away at the age of 44.
She was best known for playing Big Mama Thornton in the biopic film Elvis.
Metro Nashville police department confirmed the star’s death via a tweet on July 21. It stated: “Dukureh, a Fisk Univ graduate, was found dead in the bedroom of her Kothe Way apt that she shared with her 2 young children.”
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Doja Cat pays tribute to Shonka Dukureh
The Say So singer paid her respects to Shonka by sharing a picture of them together on her Instagram story.
The singer thanked the Elvis star for featuring in her latest hit, Vegas, which dropped in June.
“Rest in Peace Shonka – an incredible talent taken from us too soon. Was a true honor getting to know her and I am so grateful to her for lending vocals to ‘Vegas’”, Doja wrote in her story.
“Her amazing performance in Elvis amongst her other artistry will live on. Sending my deepest condolences to her loved ones,” she wrote further.
The duo performed together at Coachella in 2022.
You can listen to Vegas here.
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Who was Shonka Dukureh?
Shonka was a singer, actor and author. She was originally from Tennessee and held a bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Fisk University and a Master’s degree in Education from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Although her one major role was in Elvis, she had the experience of working with several prominent musicians for years.
As per her official website, she toured internationally with recording artists such as Jamie Lindell and The Royal Pharaohs.
Some of her other notable performances included: Background vocals for Grammy Award winner Mike Farris on his 2018 album Silver and Stone, background Vocals for legendary music producer Pete Rock and Smoke Dza’s 2016 album Don’t Smoke Rocks, and Background vocals for multiple Grammy Award winner Ashley Cleveland’s 2009 album God Don’t Never Change among other.
Her website also shows that her first studio album, The Lady Sings the Blues, was supposed to come out in June 2022.
She had two children
Not much is known about Shonka’s personal life, but she had two children at the time of her passing.
Her Instagram consists of very few posts with her children. The last video she shared with her daughter was on June 25, having a little chat about going to the Elvis movie.
Another video from March features her firstborn son.
She captioned it, “My firstborn thoroughly enjoys frequenting guitar center to explore all the happening instruments and gear. He happened upon a very cool turntable set-up and let me vibe with them a sec. Grateful to Be His Mom”
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