Quindon Tarver, a child singer, famed for his performance in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, has passed away at 38.
The Dallas Morning News confirmed the tragic news of Tarver’s passing earlier this week. Tarver’s uncle, Kevin Tarver, confirmed to the news outlet that his nephew passed away in a car accident Thursday night on President George Bush Turnpike.
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Kevin opened up about Quindon’s focus before his passing, revealing that he was getting ready to make a comeback. He told The Dallas Morning News, “He had been through so much. But his focus was on his music. He was getting ready to make his comeback. He had been in the studio working on a project that was supposed to be released this year.”
Tarver began singing at age 4 in a church choir and eventually signed with Virgin Records at age 12. The singer was asked to audition for Romeo + Juliet while filming his debut album, Quindon. In the film, the singer performed now-classic renditions of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Rozalla’s “Everybody’s Free”.
Director Baz Luhrmann took to Instagram to share his condolences to Tarver’s family, sharing a heartwarming clip of a young Tarver during on-set rehearsals. The director wrote in his caption, “A beautiful soul has passed, my thoughts are with Quindon Tarver’s family and loved ones.”
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Tarver opened up about his childhood fame and experience with Romeo + Juliet in 2017. While he revealed he had never heard of the Rozalla song, at the time he shared, it was an honor to sing “When Doves Cry.”
“Of course, ‘When Doves Cry’, yes! Because I love Prince. He was an iconic legend. Even as a child, for me he was this amazing guy doing all these different things with his voice and these instruments and the wardrobe and the costumes,” Tarver said.
Tarver also shared how the film had such a profound impact on him when it came out. He explained, “Me? A country boy from Dallas, Texas? To be on a movie screen where my friends could go and see it? That blew my mind. That was amazing.”
He continued to explain that while he was excited, he was very shy, saying, “I’ve always been a very humble and modest person. When it came out, I was excited about it, but I didn’t really know how to display my excitement. I was shy.”
Tarver’s cover of “Everybody’s Free” from the film is currently on Youtube to view. Check out the standout performance from the late singer below.
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