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Dame Jools Topp, one-half of New Zealand’s celebrated double-act the Topp Twins, has died peacefully at her home.
She passed away on Saturday with her twin sister Lynda, brother Bruce, close friends and her pets by her side, following a 22-year journey with breast cancer.
A day before her death, Dame Jools and Dame Lynda were honoured at the Country Music Honours awards in Gore, where the Topp Twins received the Country Music Honour for Contribution to Country Music in recognition of their longstanding impact on the industry and support of fellow artists.
Singer Tami Neilson, in a tribute played during the awards, said: “Without the Toppies taking me under their wings, uplifting me and bringing me around NZ on tour with them countless times, I would not be the artist or the person that I am today. They are the touchstone that grounds me and the standard to which I always strive.”
