Tina Turner, ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, dies in Switzerland, aged 83

By Starrys Obazei | May 24, 2023.
starrys@ddnewsonline.com

“Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,” her spokesperson has said.

The US-born star was one of rock’s iconic singers, known for her electric on-stage presence and hits including The Best, Proud Mary, Private Dancer and What’s Love Got to Do With It, according to news.sky.com.

Among the first to pay tribute were Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Bryan Adams, the White House, and Gloria Gaynor.

“She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer,” said Rolling Stones frontman Jagger.

“She was inspiring, warm, funny, and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”

Midler called her an “absolutely brilliant performer and inspiration to us all”.

Turner found fame in the 1960s alongside ex-husband Ike Turner, with the classic River Deep, Mountain High among their repertoire.

The domestic abuse Ike subjected her to – and her struggle to break free – was documented in a 1993 film starring Angela Bassett, which won three Oscars.

Turner’s life story was also immortalized in a popular West End show that is still running.

However, her career was dramatically resurrected in 1983 when a cover of Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ became a huge hit.

Turner, then in her 40s, signed a new contract with Capitol Records which led to the Private Dancer album in 1984.

It went on to sell more than 10 million copies and established her as a mega-start

The title track from Private Dancer, as well as What’s Love Got to Do With It, and I Can’t Stand the Rain were among the album’s seven singles.

Her most well-known song – with its distinctive intro, steady build, and powerful chorus – is probably The Best.

Released in 1989, part of the Foreign Affair album, it’s actually a cover of a song by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler.

Proud Mary is also an established classic, with Turner performing up-tempo dance moves to its “rolling down the river” refrain well into her 70s at live shows.

Off the back of her comeback, there was also a foray into film alongside Mel Gibson in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

The movie spawned another hit, We Don’t Need Another Hero.

Born Annie Anna Bullock in a segregated Tennessee hospital in November 1939, Turner became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.

She lived on a sprawling estate on Lake Zurich with her husband and former EMI record executive, Erwin Bach, some 16 years her junior.

The couple met in 1985, with Turner once telling Oprah Winfrey it was love at first sight when he was sent to pick her up from an airport in Germany.

“He had the prettiest face. You could not miss it,” she said.

“It was like saying, ‘Where did he come from?’ He was really that good-looking. My heart went bu-bum. It means that a soul has met. My hands were shaking.