Dame Jools Topp has been celebrated by members of the public, fellow artists, friends and whānau at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.
Dame Jools died in May, aged 68, after living with breast cancer for 22 years. She was one half of the beloved comedic singing duo The Topp Twins, who, alongside her sister Dame Lynda Topp, entertained generations of New Zealanders for more than 40 years.
Both sisters revealed in March 2022 that they were being treated for breast cancer. Dame Jools was first diagnosed in 2006.
The public celebration featured speeches and songs from guests including Dame Lynda, Helen Clark, Tami Neilson and Neil Finn, with Miriama Kamo serving as MC. The event was open to the public through free tickets.
Kamo said the gathering was a celebration, rather than a memorial.
“Jools Topp said ‘what is the point in life if you’re not having fun?’ and she knew fun. Who else would describe their basic training at Burnham Military Camp as a ‘pyjama party with guns?’”
Kamo invited those attending to “laugh, to cry and, especially, to sing”, before acknowledging the politicians in attendance and noting the absence of Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith.
“You will never be forgotten”
Dame Lynda Topp followed Kamo’s opening remarks to loud applause.
“This has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, is say goodbye to my beautiful twin,” Dame Lynda said.
She spoke movingly about being Dame Jools’ caregiver during the final year of her life, and about the day her sister died.
“We were all instructed to pull a card, and to place it on her where we stood.
“The person at the top of her head pulled creativity, the person next gratitude, then trust. Willingness, peace, light, love, honesty, truth, purpose, balance, openness, compassion and kindness.
“I know there are a few politicians in the room, and perhaps from today on we take all of those words and run our country with them.
“Because I can tell you right now we can bring together more people than any political party with those words, and we have shown we can do it in three weeks, right here, right now.”
“If you want a good political campaign, you will hire me as your advisor,” she added, to cheers.
Dame Lynda also shared Dame Jools’ very specific wish to be laid naked on top of a hill at her farm after she died.
“They said, ‘what if we drop her?’ I said ‘we’ll have to get the neighbours to bring her back because she’ll end up in their paddock.’
“I did almost say that we all had to be naked, but then we realised the neighbours could see from across the hill. We had a moment where we let her soak in her beloved farm.”
Dame Lynda said that the next day, as she prepared to dress her sister with the funeral services team, they turned her over and found “there, stuck in her bum crack, was the most beautiful piece of horse grass you’ve ever seen.”
She said she looked at the funeral services team and told them: “That’s staying.”
“She took a little bit of her farm with her,” Dame Lynda added, drawing laughter from the audience.
She later ended her remarks by saying: “I will miss you forever, I will love you forever, and you will never, ever be forgotten.”
“Darling sister”
The twins’ older brother, Bruce Topp, remembered Dame Jools as “kind and generous and funny and forgiving and intelligent”.
“Not necessarily all at the same time, but you get the picture. Ride well on your horse into the sunset darling sister Jools.”
“The very best of who we are”
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark said Dame Jools and Dame Lynda had told Aotearoa’s stories “through their songs and satire”.
“They had a reach right across our town and country because they reflected who we are… they left us in stitches every time they appeared.
“The Topps’ talent led them to music and the stage, but they never forgot where they came from.”
Clark shared a memory of the twins’ 60th birthday celebration in London in 2018, where they performed to a largely expat audience.
“Many said how homesick it made them feel… so many here today will have their very special memories of Jools and Jools and Lynda performing together.
“It is very hard to accept that this will never happen again. But what an incredible legacy this is. Jools was taken from us far too young, but the celebration of life today is about honouring an incredible human being who touched so many lives including mine.
“Jools and Lynda represent the very best of who we are, and Jools will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.”
Prominent Māori activist Mereana Pitman described the twins as “the Che Guevaras of the Pakeha lesbian movement” and thanked them for their support of kaupapa Māori.
“Great revolutionaries taught me not to be afraid. Don’t be afraid. We all faced our fears in those times and facing your fear makes you have more courage.
“Jools was brave. She was courageous, she was great to my babies. My girl and my son love her for that.”
“I just wanted to thank you”
During the celebration, Kamo introduced a previously unseen message recorded by Dame Jools before her death.
“Right now I just wanted to tell you I love you. I loved everything you gave us over the years. You are truly wonderful, and have been forever and ever.”
“I really hold you in my heart, because you were the ones who kept us there, who kept us motivated who kept us writing songs, who made us laugh and held our breath until the laughter couldn’t hold anymore and then out it came.
“Laughter kept us going, and all the times you clapped and cheered and bought albums, and kept us alive. I just wanted to thank you, for being all our greatest fans. Love you, forever, in my heart.”
Dame Jools also shared a message for Dame Lynda.
“I miss you.
“I know that you struggled a little bit when I left and that was OK, because you needed to have a moment to let go of me, to let it be OK, and know that I’m not really anywhere, but still by your side every minute of the day.
“So when you hear the wind blow, or you hear the line of your reel hit the water as it hits the South Island lake, and the trout’s waiting patiently for it, or the wind just touches your ear, and you feel a little chill, that’s me.
“It’s me reminding you that I’ll always love you forever, and it will never go away. So my darling, stay strong. I will love you until the cows come home.”
She then let out a “moo”, prompting laughter from the audience.
Dame Lynda returned to the stage and said “there would always be a tiny hole in my heart that can never be filled again” without her sister.
“I will try my hardest to carry on my sister’s legacy. As I’ve said to the political team here today, I am available as your advisor for an election year in 2026,” she said, to applause.
“There are thousands of lesbians out there ready to march for a different country. There are hippies, there are suits, there are people who go, ‘how are we gonna get by next week in this country?’ New Zealand, do not let that happen. Make your statement at the voting stations. Make your statement. Honour Jools Topp and lets make New Zealand a much better, a much fairer, a much caring country.”
She acknowledged those from the Labour Party, Green Party and Te Pāti Māori who were present.
“The other one’s aren’t. Let’s make sure, it doesn’t really matter what your beliefs are and what you believe in. But lets make it a much better place for the next generation.”
For Aotearoa’s Rainbow communities, Dame Jools’ legacy is inseparable from courage, visibility and joy. As an out lesbian entertainer, musician, comedian and activist, she helped make queer lives not only visible, but loved, sung about and celebrated across the country.
