TRAGIC TURN
Shonka Dukureh dead at 44: Elvis actress discovered by one of her children in her Nashville apartment
A STAR of the new Elvis movie, Shonka Dukureh, has died aged 44.
She was found dead in her apartment by one of her young children.
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Shonka had drawn recent attention for her role as blues singer Big Mama Thornton in the new Elvis Presley biopic.
According to , she was found dead in the bedroom of her apartment in Nashville, Tennessee, by one of her young children on Thursday.
The child ran to get help from a neighbor, who then called 911 around 9.30am, reports Metro Nashville Police Department.
Investigators are currently waiting for autopsy results to determine her cause of death.
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No foul play has been suspected by police.
Shonka was not only known to Elvis movie fans but also Doja Cat fans after she appeared as Big Mama Thornton in the singer's music video for the soundtrack song Vegas.
She even joined Doja Cat on stage to sing the tune at Coachella earlier this year.
Big Mama Thornton was an influential singer who had a huge impact on the young Elvis.
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He even made her song Hound Dog famous with his 1956 rendition.
Besides her recent Hollywood role, Shonka was known as a gospel singer in her hometown of Nashville.
She was well regarded for her larger-than-life voice and for teaching music to kids in the local community.
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Shonka's role in the Elvis movie was originally meant to just be off-screen, but she was later asked to portray Big Mama Thornton on camera too.
As a blues-lover, it was a dream-come-true role for the singer, who told : "I knew to really pay tribute to her, I had to tap into my self, my own self-confidence, my own voice.
"She [Big Mama Thornton] was very adamant that she only had her voice — no one could sing like her and she sang like no one. So I had to also embrace that as our approach to music."
Since its release, Elvis has won the praise of fans and critics across the world.
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Shonka had been planning on recording a new album of blues music in light of her newfound fame.
She told last month that she was "on cloud nine" following the success of her first major movie role.
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