LAST UPDATE | 24 May 2023
SINGER TINA TURNER has died at the age of 83 after a long illness, her publicist told the PA news agency.
Turner was known for such hits as Proud Mary and What’s Love Got To Do With It and her dynamic on-stage performances.
She retired from touring in 2008.
In a career spanning over 60 years, the American-Swiss singer, who was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, won eight competitive Grammy Awards, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
(1/3) In Memoriam: Two-time Inductee Tina Turner worked hard to reimagine the role of a Black woman in rock & roll — one that was firmly placed front and center. During her time in the duo Ike and Tina Turner (inducted in 1991), her electric onstage presence forever raised the pic.twitter.com/mNkKB7O1l5
— Rock Hall (@rockhall) May 24, 2023
Turner died “peacefully” today after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her publicist.
“With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model,” a statement read.
“With her music and her inexhaustible vitality, Tina Turner thrilled millions of fans and inspired many artists of subsequent generations.”
The statement added that a private funeral ceremony, attended by close friends and family, would be held, and that further press inquiries would not be answered.
Roger Davies, the singer’s manager of 30 years, paid tribute to the star, saying: “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 believed in herself completely when few others did at that time.
“It was a privilege and an honour to have been a close friend as well as her manager for more than 30 years. I will miss her deeply.”
Rolling Stone magazine paid tribute to Tina, saying that her “influence on rock, R&B and soul singing and performance was immeasurable”.
Nasa tweeted: “Simply the best. Music legend Tina Turner sparkled across the stage and into millions of hearts as the Queen of Rock’n'Roll. Her legacy will forever live among the stars.”
Simply the best. Music legend Tina Turner sparkled across the stage and into millions of hearts as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll. Her legacy will forever live among the stars. pic.twitter.com/W0OGq61vwT
— NASA (@NASA) May 24, 2023
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger said he is “so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend”.
“She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer,” he wrote on Instagram.
“She was inspiring, funny and generous. She helped me with so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”
Turner took to the stage in 1985 with Jagger during the Live Aid concert.
British singer Rick Astley is also among those paying tribute.
He wrote: “What a woman, what a life, what a voice! One of the GREATS! Such sad news. RIP.”
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre described the singer’s death as “incredibly sad news”.
She said Turner’s death is a massive loss to the communities who loved her and the music industry.
US singer Bette Midler tweeted: “Our beloved Tina Turner has died. From Nutbush to the top, she was an absolutely brilliant performer and inspiration to us all.
“May flights of angels sing her to her rest, but if I know Tina, she is singing lead.”
Turner’s autobiography, I, Tina, was turned into the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It, dramatising the mother-of-two’s famously turbulent relationship with Ike Turner and it also saw Angela Bassett nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Tina in the biopic.
Turner, widely referred to as the Queen of Rock and Roll, wed her long-time German beau, the music executive Erwin Bach, in a Swiss civil ceremony in 2013, and has lived in Switzerland with him since 1994.
It was a second marriage for the music star, who was previously married to musician Ike from 1962 to 1978.
In her 1986 book, the singer narrated a harrowing tale of abuse, including suffering a broken nose during the course of her marriage to Ike.
Ike died in December 2007 and Tina’s spokeswoman at the time was quoted as saying: “Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.”
She had suffered ill health in recent years, being diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and having a kidney transplant in 2017.
Last year, Turner said following her son Ronnie’s death at the age of 62 that he “left the world far too early”.
Her other biological son, Craig Raymond Turner, died aged 59 in 2018.
In 2021, Turner sold the rights to her back catalogue after reaching an agreement with BMG for an undisclosed sum, signing over her share of her recordings, her music publishing writer’s share and her name, image and likeness, the company said.
Her solo works include 10 studio albums, two live albums, two soundtracks and five compilations, which together have sold more than 100 million records.
With reporting by Press Association
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