Nashville gospel singer Shonka Dukureh dies at 44, just one month after her movie debut in ‘Elvis’

Nashville singer and actor Shonka Dukureh has died unexpectedly. She’s survived by her two young children.

According to Nashville police, Dukureh was found dead in the bedroom of her Antioch apartment that she shared with her kids. No foul play is evident, and her death has not yet been classified.

The 44-year-old’s star was rising rapidly – she recently portrayed the role of Big Mama Thornton in the new Elvis movie, and shared the stage at Coachella with Doja Cat.

But even before she charmed movie-goers on the silver screen, Dukureh made her mark locally in Nashville.

She grew up here, building her talent as a singer in church and local theater productions. She graduated from Fisk University, with a theater degree, and Trevecca Nazarene with a degree in education.

Despite being known for her larger-than-life voice, one of her first loves was teaching.

“I taught second grade for a little while over at Buena Vista Elementary in Metro Schools, and then did a lot of work with inner city youth doing after school programming, summer programing — those programs that we need during the break so that kids can have a positive place to be,” Dukureh said.

She sat down with WPLN’s Nina Cardona last month, and told her those students have been reaching out after seeing her in the Elvis movie.

“They’re blown away, like, ‘Wow! Miss Shonka! Really?'” she said, laughing. “I said, ‘I’m still Ms. Shonka, you know!'”

courtesy Shonka Dukureh

Dukureh, a mainstay of gospel music in Nashville, is working now on an album of blues music.

She says she had a similar experience seeing herself on the big screen for the first time at the movie’s Nashville premiere at the Franklin Theatre.

“I tried to respect that it was such a respectful crowd, you know, and so I couldn’t be too loud,” she said. “But I wanted to scream, I honestly did!”

Originally, Dukureh’s involvement with the film was supposed to be off-screen. She was one of about 50 gospel singers pulled in for backup work.

She gave her usual soulful performance, and thought that was the end of it.

But a year later, she found out they wanted her to take on the role of Big Mama Thornton, the legendary singer whose song “Hound Dog” became one of Elvis’ first big hits.

“I knew to really pay tribute to her, I had to tap into my self, my own self-confidence, my own voice,” she said. “Because she 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.”

Much like the character she portrayed on screen, Dukureh’s voice and talent will be remembered as uniquely her own.