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The world is mourning the loss of legendary performer Tina Turner, who has passed away at the age of 83. Known for her signature stage glitz, larger-than-life hair, and ferocious vocals, her music and persona left an indelible print on pop culture.
As confirmed by a rep for the singer, Turner died peacefully at her home in Switzerland, after battling a long illness.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the team behind her Instagram account announced. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow.
“Today, we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.”
In recent years, she had experienced a series of health issues, including an intestinal cancer diagnosis in 2016 and requiring a kidney transplant in 2017.
Tuner first found fame in the ’60s alongside her ex-husband, Ike Turner. In 1967 she even became the first black woman to cover Rolling Stone magazine and produced a slew of chart-topping hits. She would go on to leave her husband due to years of abuse and truck out on her own to become one of the top recording solo artists of all time with hits like ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ and ‘The Best’.
Over her six-decade career, she won 12 Grammy Awards, sold over 200 million albums, starred in several movies and penned three bestselling memoirs, including one that was adapted into the 1993 biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It, starring Angela Bassett.
Born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Tennessee, Turner began singing in blues clubs as a teenager. She met Ike Turner in the 50s after joining his band, and the pair married in 1962. Tina had a son, Craig, from a previous relationship, and together, they had a son, Ronnie. Tina then adopted two of Ike’s children, Ike Jr. and Michael.
Opening up about the abuse she experienced at the hands of Ike, who passed away due to a drug overdose in 2007, she told CBS that her ex was a troubled man. “He didn’t like that he had to depend on me,” she said. “And I didn’t want to start a fight because it was always a black eye, a broken nose, a busted lip, a rib.”
The couple finally separated after an altercation in Dallas. The divorce was finalised in 1978, with Tina citing Ike’s abuse, as well as his frequent infidelities and increasing drug and alcohol abuse. And with just “36 cents and a gas station credit card,” she began again.
After his death, Tina reflected on her feelings about him in the documentary, Tina. “For a long time, I did hate Ike, I have to say that. But then, after he died, I really realised that he was an ill person,” she said.
“It hurts to have to remember those times, but at a certain stage, forgiveness takes over. Forgiving means not having to hold on.”
Turner went on to find happiness with German music producer Erwin Bach, whom she met in 1986 and married in 2013 after 27 years together. Leaving the Hollywood spotlight, she renounced her US citizenship and moved to Switzerland to live in a castle with Bach. In her 2018 autobiography Tina Turner: My Love Story, she revealed that Bach saved her life by giving her a kidney in 2016.
