Legendary singer, Tina Turner, is dead.
She died at her home in Küsnach near Zurich, Switzerland, following a long, unspecified illness.
Tina Turner, whose death was announced on Wednesday at the age of 83, will undoubtedly get her dying wish: asked in her final interview six weeks ago how she wanted to be remembered, she replied: ‘As the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
Her representatives announced the news, saying: ‘With her the world loses a music legend and role model.’
On April 9, in what was believed to be her final public remarks, she told The Guardian how she hoped the world would remember her – and how she did not fear death.
‘How would you like to be remembered?’ the Guardian asked.
‘As the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. As a woman who showed other women that it is OK to strive for success on their own terms.’
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Asked what frightens her about getting older, she replied: ‘Nothing. This is life’s full adventure and I embrace and accept every day with what it brings.’
Sharp as ever, Turner joked about whether she’d like more sex, money or fame – ‘at my age, is there another option?’ and told how she was enjoying ‘anonymity in retirement’.
Turner is survived by two of her four sons – two preceded her in death – and her 67-year-old husband, Erwin Bach. The pair married in 2013 after dating for nearly 30 years.
Among the first to lead tributes to her today was Mick Jagger, who she shared electrifying on-stage chemistry with.
‘I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer.
‘She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her,’ Jagger wrote.
Giorgio Armani, with whom she was close friends, said: ‘I heard the passing of Tina Turner with sadness and disbelief: with her incredible energy she seemed eternal. Her music certainly is. I will miss a great friend, whom I have also had the pleasure to dress many times. In life, she was like she was on stage – pure energy. I am deeply saddened.’
Born Anna-Mae Bullock in 1939 in Brownsville, Tennessee, to Zelma and Floyd Bullock, Turner overcame a turbulent childhood and abusive marriage to become a musical sensation and legendary performer.
In her early 20s, she found fame with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, a live act with her former husband.
Behind their veneer of success and marital bliss, she endured brutal abuse throughout the marriage. They divorced in 1978.
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Turner, determined to succeed on her own and with four sons to raise, stunned fans and the media by speaking publicly about the abuse.
‘I wanted to stop people from thinking that Ike & Tina was so positive, that we were such a great team,’ Turner explained in an eponymous documentary.
By the early 80s, she was a musical powerhouse in her own right, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s most revered rock stars.
Electrifying performances with Mick Jagger and David Bowie set her success on fire and she was quickly celebrated with awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Throughout her career, Turner won eight Grammy’s from 25 nominations and three lifetime Grammy Awards. Her final stadium concert was in Sheffield, England, in 2009.
While the specific cause of her death has not been revealed, her health struggles have been well documented.
Her husband Erwin donated one of his kidneys to her in 2017 following years of chronic kidney failure and a cancer diagnosis.
In her memoir, Turner praised Bach for teaching her ‘how to love without giving up who I am’.
‘We grant each other freedom and space to be individuals at the same time we are a couple,’ the singer wrote in her book.
‘Erwin, who is a force of nature in his own right, has never been the least bit intimidated by my career, my talents, or my fame. He shows me that true love doesn’t require the dimming of my light so that he can shine.
‘On the contrary, we are the light of each other’s lives, and we want to shine as bright as we can, together.’
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