Quindon Tarver (pictured), 38, whose rendition of Everybody’s Free and When Doves Cry captured the hearts of millions in the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, died in a car crash in Texas last week
Quindon Tarver, whose rendition of Everybody’s Free and When Doves Cry captured the hearts of millions in the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, died in a car crash in Texas last week. He was 38.
Tarver’s family confirmed to The Daily Beast that he was in an accident early Friday morning in Dallas.
‘He had an accident—all we know is he had a wreck, crashed into a wall somewhere on George Bush [Turnpike],’ Tarver’s uncle, Willie, said.
No other information was immediately available.
Tarver, who started singing when he was four years old at his grandfather’s church in McKinney, Texas, played a choirboy in Baz Luhrmann’s remake of the Shakespeare classic, Romeo + Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo.
Back in 1995, Tarver had been signed to Virgin Records and was recording a debut album when he received a call from a music supervisor he had met on a previous audition.
‘They needed a kid to sing that part in the movie, and she remembered me, and her people reached out to my people, and I went and auditioned, and I got the part,’ Tarver recalled in a 2016 interview with Cosmopolitan.
Tarver was just 12 at the time, and totally wowed them with a rendition of Whitney Houston’s His Eye Is on the Sparrow.
Tarver was flown to Mexico City for the filming in a grand cathedral, where he was perched in the front of a choir on a balcony and took the lead on the song.
Tarver’s family said he was in an accident early Friday morning in Dallas along the George Bush Turnpike. Tarver (right, foreground) is seen when he was a young boy in the film Romeo + Juliet
His music career stalled after he spoke publicly about being sexually abused by an industry figure.
Tarver, who was vocal about being abused in the music industry, shared in a December 2020 Instagram post: ‘I thought it was real between us all…. it was all apart of a motive & agenda! Young artists breaking into the industry be aware of wolves in sheeps clothing!!’
According to the Daily Beast, Tarver also struggled with addiction for some time before trying to make a comeback.
Tarver released the song Stand Our Ground a year after his first cousin Darius Tarver was shot dead by police officers on January 21, 2020.
Darius’ father had said that his son was having a mental episode related to head injuries from an accident when he charged at officers with a knife.
Tarver released Stand Our Ground in January 2021, saying at the time: ‘We must end police brutality & we will Stand Our Ground!!!’
Tarver’s album, Quindon, was released in 1996 by Virgin Records and included the single It’s You That’s on My Mind. He was under the same management as Immature and B2K. Tarver (left and right on tour in 1996) also toured the world with Immature, Brandy and Monica
Tarver (pictured in February), who came out as gay in 2019, appeared on seasons two and seven of American Idol and finished in the top 50
Darius’ father, Kevin, told the Daily Beast: ‘It’s kind of tragic—I actually lost my son in January to police brutality. This last release Quindon put out, Stand Our Ground, was on behalf of my son.’
Kevin remembered his nephew as loving and straightforward.
‘He loved music since he was young, and singing eventually took him all around the world. That was his passion,’ Kevin added.
Tarver’s album, Quindon, was released in 1996 by Virgin Records and included the single It’s You That’s on My Mind.
He was under the same management as Immature and B2K. Tarver also toured the world with Immature, Brandy and Monica.
Tarver, who came out as gay in 2019, also appeared on seasons two and seven of American Idol and finished in the top 50.
Tarver (pictured in red and black while holding a Black Lives Matter sign) released the song Stand Our Ground a year after his first cousin Darius Tarver was shot dead by police officers on January 21, 2020
In 2012, Tarver attempted suicide and just last month he shared a video of himself singing Nobody But God, a song he said helped him when he was at the lowest point in his life.
‘When I think of being at my lowest point in life & suicide was my only way out in 2012. After the attempted try that landed me on life support for 17 hours on a breathing machine,’ Tarver wrote on March 25.
‘It was NOBODY BUT GOD that put breath back in my body!
‘This @dorindaclarkcole song has been a testimonial song for me & it will hold dear to me heart forever! I thank God for being God!!!!’
