Mourners bid farewell to Nina Simone

REMEMBERING her artistry and activism, hundreds of mourners crowded a church in southern France yesterday to bid farewell to jazz singer Nina Simone.

Simone, whose raspy, soulful voice and protest songs of the US civil rights movement won her lasting acclaim, died on Monday aged 70 after a long illness in France, where she had lived for years.

Some 500 mourners including South African singer Myriam Makeba attended the service in Carry-le-Rouet.

Simone's daughter, a singer in her own right, belted out a gospel song while Elton John sent a bouquet of yellow roses.

"She was a great artist, but she was also someone who fought for liberty," said Makeba, praising Simone's courage in the fight for equal rights for black Americans during the 1960s.

Simone was remembered for her eclectic talents: a classically-trained pianist whose style recalled Billie Holiday and a protest singer who also adapted songs by the Bee Gees.

At her funeral, speakers praised her activism "Nina Simone was a part of history," read a message from the South African government. "She fought for the liberation of black people. It is with much pain that we received the news of her death."

Simone left the United States in 1973 and lived in the Caribbean and Africa before settling in Europe. She didn't return to the United States until 1985 for a series of concerts.

In a 1998 interview, Simone blamed racism in the United States for her decision to live abroad.

Simone is survived by her daughter, Lisa