Singer Tauski Peltonen unexpectedly lost a dear friend.
Tauski Peltonen lost his dear friend, who is also known to many of his fans. MIISA MÄNTYSALO
Just a week after his own honeymoon, the singer Tauski Peltonen faced with great sad news. His best friend and known to many fans from singing gigs Jarkko “Jacce” Kuutniemi was unexpectedly found dead in his home on Thursday at the age of 66.
Kuutniemi worked for 17 years at Tauski’s gigs as an all-around planer: he was a car driver, a bodyguard and a support person you could always count on.
For Tausk, he was like a family member.
– Jacce died of a sudden illness. This is a big loss that has touched my whole family, Tauski Peltonen tells Iltalehte.
He says that he returned to Finland from his wedding trip to Turkey and that he tried to contact his friend by phone. When nothing was heard about this, concern arose. Usually the friend quickly got back to the point, but that was not the case this time.
– I had a bad feeling because he usually never kept his phone closed. I called 911 and asked the police to come and see Jacce’s home. I went there myself in a hurry. The police found him dead in his home in Turku.
– I absolutely did not want to believe this to be true. The worst happened. I’ve dealt with it, but talking about it makes me cry.
“He was tired”
You can hear the emotion in Tauski’s voice when he describes his friend’s character traits.
– Irreplaceable, both as a friend and as an employee.
– Jace was not given any honors in his life. He was a modest person. Only a small percentage of people want to go on such heavy tours. It was easier for me because I had a loyal person walking with me all these years.
Even in the summer, Kuutniemi accompanied him to gigs. It was an honorable task for him to drive the car to gigs and from there home. A month ago I started getting sick. The last time they met, Tauski took car parts to his friend who loves American cars so that he could fix cars. There was Henna-bread rolls and mocha pieces baked by my wife.
– I noticed that he was tired. At that time, Jacce humorously threw Henna’s baked goods when she saw that this wife was going on. I then told him to go to the hospital and said I would help if needed.
Caregiver
Friendship was helped over the years from both sides. Jacce worked as a nanny when Tauski’s offspring were small, and she was also Santa Claus. There were moments when the shoulder was irreplaceable even for Tauski.
– He was a family member who was with us at all our family parties, Christmas parties and birthdays. To me, this is the same as having a big brother taken away.
– When I had problems with alcohol, Jacce came to the yard with the car and said to get out of there and let’s take care of this gig. He stated that if on the way back you feel like you want to continue partying, then let’s continue. He was such a caretaker.
Tauski says that he is in Eastern Finland on a concert trip and that he is heading to Joensuu. He has been semi-fit, and he is not feeling the best after the sad news, but says that his late friend would like the gig to continue.
– Jace had the attitude that gigs are not cancelled, they are done. So it was decided that we are going to do these anyway, says Tauski.