The singer is portrayed by Shonka Dukureh, a gospel singer from Tennessee who did her own vocals for the film. You may have seen her performing with Doja Cat during the artist's Coachella set, on their collaborative song, “Vegas.” The video for the song, which Dukureh is included in, has over 15 million views.
She made her Hollywood debut as Big Mama Thornton, giving a performance that one castmate called “a spiritual experience.” Shonka Dukureh as Big Mama Thornton in Baz Luhrmann's movie “Elvis.” Kane Skennar/Warner Bros.
Actress and singer Shonka Dukureh made her big-screen debut this year in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, only to tragically die shortly after the film's release. Her death at 44 came as a shock, and now the cause has been revealed.
Shonka Dukureh, the Nashville blues singer who made her film debut playing Big Mama Thornton in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, died on Thursday. She was 44. Dukureh was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 3, 1977.
Dukureh played Big Mama Thornton in the Elvis film. Thornton was the first to record the classic “Hound Dog” song later covered by Presley. Kukureh also is featured singing the song on the Elvis soundtrack.
In the film, Luhrmann highlights artists such as Big Mama Thornton, who sang the original “Hound Dog”; Little Richard, an actual rock originator; Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the electric guitar pioneer; and B.B. King, the blues superstar who had a long, close friendship with Presley.
Shonka Dukureh, who sang 'Hound Dog' in 'Elvis,' dead at 44.
'Elvis' Star Yola On Her Film Debut Playing Rock Icon Rosetta Tharpe | On The Rise | Harper's BAZAAR - YouTube.
Presley was found unresponsive at Graceland, his Memphis mansion, around 2:30 p.m., The New York Times reported. His then-fiancee Ginger Alden found Presley lying unconscious on the floor of the master suite bathroom, according to PBS. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m.
Now, he's permanently gone from the station, as “Big Mama and the Wild Bunch” formally concludes its 14 years at WXKB “B103. 9.” Jones had been absent from the wake-up program since Friday, June 10. The reason: He's running against Lee County School Board Chairman Debbie Jordan and two other candidates for the seat.
Elvis died of a heart attack on Aug. 16, 1977. The "preliminary autopsy findings" indicated that the cause of death was "cardiac arrhythmia," according to Dr. Jerry Francisco, the Shelby County coroner, who conducted a two-hour examination of the body.
The result was Max Chapman, a fictional Black female and queer pitcher portrayed by Chanté Adams. Her initial chance to take to the field amid the launch of the All-American Girls League is denied because of the color of her skin, a move that turns A League of Their Own into a tale of two fields.
Enjoyed this Elvis Presley film where he plays the role as Mike Edwards who is down on his luck and meets up with a sweet little girl named Sue-Lin, (Vicky Tiu) who likes Mike and he agrees to watch her while her uncle takes care of his business affairs.
During a baseball game in Penny Marshall's 1992 comedy, a Black woman (DeLisa Chinn-Tyler) in the stands recovers a foul ball and mightily throws it back to faraway player Ellen Sue (Freddie Simpson) on the field. The nameless spectator, who's seated in the segregated section, is never seen or heard from again.
ELVIS PRESLEY DEAD – August 16, 1977, at age 42 years, in the bathroom at Graceland. The King of bacon, banana and peanut butter sandwiches, didn't die of a heart condition. He succumbed, on the toilet, to chronic constipation.
Did Ginger Alden Attend Elvis' Funeral? Yes. As his fiancée at the time, it is believed that Ginger Alden was present for Elvis' funeral. Following the funeral, however, she was reportedly banned from Graceland by Presley's family and had to receive permission to visit his grave.
He regarded Ann Margret as the one woman he truly, deeply loved and trusted. In fact, the only time Elvis saw Priscilla as a woman was through his tears. She grew up in his home, and he saw her as a child before becoming her mother to Lisa Marie.
- Mother Dolores Hart finds it miraculous that she was able to turn one kiss with Elvis Presley into the spark that helped save an abbey. The former starlet who walked away from Hollywood in 1963 to become a nun spun her tale into a fundraising campaign for her crumbling monastery in rural Connecticut.
One might even call him the George... Musicians like B.B. King, Fats Domino and Dean Martin had a tremendous impact on the sound and image of Elvis Presley. Anne Murray was the favorite female singer of Elvis.
He says Elvis's favorite groups were the Harmonizing Four and Golden Gate Quartet and his favorite gospel singers included Jimmy Jones, Jake Hess (who sang with the Statesmen and later formed the Imperials) and Mahalia Jackson.
'Big Mama Thornton's “Hound Dog”…
Elvis stole the song “Hound Dog” from a Black female blues singer named Big Mama Thornton…
He had a Basset Hound named Sherlock, Great Danes named Brutus and Snoopy, and Edmund, a Pomeranian he gave to his aunt Delta, because the two bonded so quickly. Get Lo, a Chow, was another of Elvis' dogs. He was once flown to Boston on Elvis' small Jetstar plane to get treatment for a kidney ailment.
But not everything in the film is entirely true to life. Having to compile four decades of life into a two-hour and 39-minute run time made for many details of Presley's career to blur together, while some were fictionalized entirely for the sake of entertainment.
In Luhrmann's screenplay, Elvis acknowledges: “Rock'n'roll is basically gospel and rhythm and blues”. Off-screen, the “godmother of rock'n'roll” Sister Rosetta Tharpe spoke wearily from the flip-side of that truth: These kids and their rock'n roll is just sped up rhythm and blues.