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.