After a protracted illness, Tina Turner, a pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll who rose to fame as a pop icon in the 1980s, passed away at the age of 83.
Her health had declined recently; she received a diagnosis of intestinal cancer in 2016 and underwent kidney transplantation in 2017.
With “Simply The Best” among her hundred successes, Tina bids her fans a final farewell after spending years in the spotlight. Her parents, Floyd and Zelma Bullock welcomed her into the world on November 26, 1939, in NutBush. They were tenant farmers.
“The closest I can come to characterize it is that we were well-to-do farmers,” Tina recounted from a Rolling Stone interview. “I had the impression that we had a good life.”
Mick Jagger said that Turner’s high-kicking, energizing live performances inspired his stage character because she confirmed and accentuated Black women’s early role in rock’n’roll.
After spending two decades making music with her controlling husband, Ike Turner, she went it alone and, after a few false starts, with the release of the album Private Dancer, became one of the key pop idols of the 1980s. Three memoirs, a biography, a jukebox musical, and the acclaimed documentary film Tina all provided accounts of her life.
Her spokesman, Bernard Doherty, released the following statement on Wednesday night: “Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock’n Roll,’ passed away peacefully today at 83 following a protracted illness in her home in Kusnacht, Switzerland, close to Zurich. She leaves behind a musical legend and a role model for the world.”
Academic Daphne A. Brooks stated: “Turner’s musical character has always been a charged combination of mystery and light, melancholy mixed with a ferocious vitality that often flirted with danger.”
Turner was up near Nutbush, Tennessee, where she recalls picking cotton with her family as a child. Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939.
As a teenager, she talked or sang her way into Ike’s band in St. Louis after singing in the little town’s church choir. He had first turned her down until he overheard her take the stage during a Kings of Rhythm performance to sing BB King’s You Know I Love You.
Ike gave her the name Tina Turner after seeing her vocal prowess and registered the name as a trademark in case she left him, and he wanted to replace her in his show.
When Turner attempted to leave the group early on after getting a feel of his erratic nature, he beat her with a wooden shoe stretcher. He immediately turned nasty.
Erwin Bach, a German music businessman, was Turner’s second spouse. After 27 years of dating, they married in July 2013 and settled in Switzerland. Turner gave up her US citizenship in 2013 to become a Swiss citizen.
Craig Raymond Turner, her firstborn, passed away in July 2018. Turner stated last year that her other son Ronnie “left the world far too early” when he passed away at 62. Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner, two of Ike Turner’s sons whom she adopted, are her surviving children.
Turner admitted to having significant health issues in 2020 but stated her last ten years had embodied her idealized picture of bliss.
“Having an unwavering, hopeful spirit that can shine, no matter what comes from having true and lasting happiness,” she remarked. “I’ve succeeded in achieving that, and my biggest desire is to assist others in achieving genuine happiness.”
Rest in peace, Tina.
