Tina Turner, music legend, dies at 83

Singer Tina Turner, whose soul classics and pop hits like The Best and What’s Love Got to Do With It made her a superstar, has died at the age of 83.

Turner had suffered a series of health problems in recent years, including cancer, a stroke, and kidney failure.

She rose to fame with her husband Ike in the 1960s with songs like Proud Mary and River Deep, Mountain High.

She divorced the abusive Ike in 1978 and achieved even greater success as a solo artist in the 1980s.

Nicknamed the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tina Turner was famous for her raunchy, energetic stage performances and her husky, powerful voice.

“With his music and boundless passion for life, he captivated millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow,” the post read.

“Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music.”

Turner won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 as a solo artist, having first been inducted alongside Ike Turner in 1991.

Upon her solo induction, the Hall of Fame noted how she had “expanded the once limited idea of ​​how a black woman could conquer a stage and be both a powerhouse and a multidimensional being.”

Younger stars who have felt his influence include Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Janelle Monae, and Rihanna.

Turner’s manager of 30 years, Roger Davies, said in a statement that “Tina was a unique and remarkable force of nature with her strength, incredible energy and immense talent.”

“From the first day I met her in 1980, she completely believed in herself when few did at the time…I will miss her dearly,” he added.

American singer Gloria Gaynor, who also rose to fame in the 1960s, said that Turner “paved the way for so many women in rock music, in black and white.”

There were also tributes from supermodel Naomi Campbell, basketball legend Magic Johnson and Blondie singers Kelly Rowland, Ciara and Debbie Harry.

On Instagram, Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger said Turner was “inspiring, warm, funny and generous” and helped him as a young man.

Sir Elton John, who in his autobiography wrote about the heated arguments they had while trying to work together in 1997, called her one of the “most exciting and electric performers” in the world.

Actress Viola Davis praised Turner as “our first symbol of excellence and unbridled ownership of sexuality!”

Born in Tennessee to a family of sharecroppers, she first found prominence as one of the backing vocalists in her husband’s band, The Kings of Rhythm.

He soon led the band, and the pair tasted commercial success with Fool in Love and It’s Gonna Work Out Fine, both of which hit the US charts in the early ’60s.

His other hits included 1973’s Nutbush City Limits, about the small town where Tina was born. But Ike’s physical and emotional abuse was taking its toll.

It was he who changed her birth name, Anna Mae Bullock, to Tina Turner, a decision he made without her knowledge, an example of his controlling behavior.

She recalled the trauma she suffered throughout their relationship in her 2018 memoir My Love Story, in which she compared sex with the late musician to “sort of rape.”

“He used my nose as a punching bag so many times I could taste blood running down my throat when he sang,” she wrote.

After escaping her abuser, she rebuilt her career and became one of the biggest pop and rock stars of the ’80s and ’90s, with hits like Let’s Stay Together, Steamy Windows, Private Dancer, James Bond’s theme song GoldenEye. , I Don’t Wanna Fight and It Takes Two, a duet with Rod Stewart.

He also starred in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which featured another of his hits, We Don’t Need Another Hero, and The Who’s 1975 rock opera Tommy as Acid Queen.

She found happiness with her second husband, the German music executive Erwin Bac. They began dating in the mid-1980s and got married in 2013.

The couple lived in Switzerland and Turner took Swiss citizenship. He donated one of his kidneys to her in 2017 after it was discovered that he suffered from kidney failure.

He also suffered tragedy with the loss of his eldest son, Craig, to suicide in 2018. His father was Turner’s former bandmate Raymond Hill.

Another son, Ronnie, whose father was Ike Turner, died in 2022. He also had two adopted sons, Ike Jr and Michael, Ike’s sons from a previous relationship.

Tina’s life story spawned a 1993 biopic titled What’s Love Got To Do With It, which earned Angela Bassett an Oscar nomination for playing the star; and a hit stage musical, aptly titled Tina: The Musical. She was also the subject of the HBO documentary Tina in 2021.

In an interview with Marie Claire South Africa in 2018, Turner said: “People think my life has been hard, but I think it’s been a wonderful journey. The older you get, the more you realize that it’s not what happened, it’s how do you deal with that.”

Additional reporting by Tiffany Wertheimer.