Share and Follow
Tina Turner, the Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll, has died at the age of 83.
The iconic singer died at her home in Küsnach near Zurich Switzerland today following a long, unspecified illness.
Her representatives confirmed her death, saying: ‘With her the world loses a music legend and role model.’
She is survived by two of her four sons – two preceded her in death – and her husband, Erwin Bach.
Born Anna-Mae Bullock in 1939 in Brownsville, Tennessee, to Zelma and Floyd Bullock, Turner overcame a turbulent childhood during which she was partly raised by her grandmother to become a musical sensation.
Tina Turner died at home today at the age of 83 after a long illness. She is shown in 2019 on the opening night of the Tine Turner Musical in New York City
An icon: Turner, shown in Berlin in 1979, is beloved for hits like Proud Mary, Simply The Best and What’s Love Got To Do With It
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.
In 1976, with multiple Grammy’s beneath her belt and with some her best known hits already behind her, she braved it alone as a solo artist.
Her final concert was in 2009 in Sheffield, which capped off her 50th Anniversary Tour.
In recent years, she has been memorialized by Tina – The Tina Turner Musical – in London’s West End and across the US.
An accompanying statement on the singer’s social media page today said: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner.
Turner with Mick Jagger during the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. It was an iconic performance with palpable chemistry. In her final interview just last month, Turner admitted that she ‘always had a crush’ on him
Turner shared an equally electric on-stage chemistry with David Bowie. Their song Let’s Dance is among her most successful
‘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.’
While the cause of her death has not yet been revealed, she spoke openly about her struggles with kidney health. Her husband Erwin donated one of his kidneys to her in 2016.
Read Related Also: ‘He fell on his knees crying and told me “I’m gay”‘: Eamonn Holmes recalls how Phillip
He is yet to issue a statement on her death.
Turner’s early childhood in Brownsville, a town in rural Tennessee, was a modest one. Her parents were sharecroppers with a volatile marriage that became so violent her mother took her to live with her grandmother when she was 11.
Aged 16, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she met Ike Turner.
Turner will be remembered as the Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll. She is pictured in 1996
Turner shot to stardom as one half of a duo with Ike Turner. The pair married and had children but split in 1978 after what she described as years of abuse
By 1986, Turner had braved it as a solo artist. The risk paid off – she quickly amassed Grammy’s and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The 2008 Grammy Awards where Turner, then 69, performed with Beyonce to an adoring crowd at the Staples Center and at home
Turner’s final performance was in 2009 at the end of her 50th Anniversary Tour. She is shown during the multi-city tour in the UK
He invited her onstage to sing with his band and became so impressed that he immediately offered her a permanent spot.
By age 20, she and Ike were fronting the Ike and Tina Turner Revue.
Turner went on to launch a solo career, parting ways romantically and musically from Ike to branch out on her own.
In 1969 – a year after trying to kill herself with 50 valium pills – she was awarded her first solo Grammy award for The Hunter.
Turner is survived by two adult sons and her husband Erwin Bach. The pair married in 2013 after years of friendship.
Two of her sons tragically preceded her in death; in 2018, her son Craig, then 59, killed himself at home in Los Angeles.
In December last year, Turner’s son Ronnie died at the age of 62 from complications caused by colon cancer.
Her marriage to Ike was also plagued with physical and emotional abuse, which she discussed in interviews in recent years.
In what is thought to be her final interview with The Guardian last month, when asked how she would like to be remembered, she said: ‘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.’
