Tina Turner, music icon dead at age 83

Tina Turner, one of rock and soul music’s greatest icons and comeback tales. Her agent published the following statement on Wednesday: “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.” A musical icon and an inspiration to millions of others have passed away with her.

1. Tina Turner’s Early Life

Tina Turner was born on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, and she first sang publicly at the age of 11 as a member of the Spring Hill Baptist Church choir in Nutbush. The man who would become her husband, bandleader Ike Turner, whom she met at the Manhattan Club in East St. Louis, was instrumental in getting her career off the ground when she was still in her teens.

She impressed Ike so much with her impromptu performance of “You Know I Love You” by B.B. King during an interlude that he invited her to officially join Ike’s group, the Kings of Rhythm. When she first entered the studio, she was credited as Little Ann for the Kings of Rhythm’s 1958 single “Boxtop.” After Ike suggested she alter her name to something that rhymed with “Sheena,” she did so. Her new stage name was Tina, and it was based on the comic book heroine Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, whose untamed and colorful stage presence had inspired her.

2. Dream Career

Her first single as Tina Turner, “A Fool in Love,” reached No. 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart and No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. She then had a string of hits with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, including “I Idolize You,” “Poor Fool,” “Tra La La La La,” and “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine,” the latter of which was nominated for a Grammy. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue became one of the most exciting live R&B groups thanks to their extensive touring and appearances on the Chitlin’ Circuit, where they swiftly gained a reputation as pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll.

After signing to Wall of Sound producer Phil Spector’s Philles label in 1966 and releasing the magnificent international blockbuster “River Deep — Mountain High,” which Spector believed to be his greatest work, Ike & Tina began a nearly decade-long streak of popular success. After a year, Tina was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, making history as the magazine’s first female artist and first Black artist.

Following a successful Las Vegas residency and tour with the Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner’s 1971 cover of “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, sold over a million copies, and won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group.

With the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Tina found commercial and critical success; the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and two of their tracks, “River Deep — Mountain High” and “Proud Mary,” were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Tina began dating Ike in 1960 and they were married in 1962, but Ike’s substance abuse, infidelity, and mental instability ultimately drove her to try suicide in 1968. In 1976, following a violent argument in a vehicle in Dallas, Tina left Ike for good, taking only 36 cents with her. Tina Turner, who was over 40 years old when she and Ike divorced in 1978, defied the odds by staging a comeback that was one of the most impressive in pop music history.

Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne earned Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar nominations, respectively, for their portrayals of Tina and Ike Turner in the 1993 film adaptation of Tina’s bestselling autobiography, I, Tina: My Life Story, which she co-wrote with MTV news correspondent and music journalist Kurt Loder in 1986. Tina’s “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” a single she recorded for the film’s soundtrack, peaked in the top 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. GoldenEye, written by Bono and the Edge of U2 for the 1995 James Bond film of the same name, was another smash for Tina in the ’90s.

Tina’s final two studio albums, Wildest Dreams and Twenty Four Seven, were released in the late ’90s, as her 60th birthday drew closer. After that, she kept a quiet profile, eventually marrying her longtime boyfriend, German music executive Erwin Bach, in 2013. The couple had been together for 27 years. She returned to the public eye at the 2008 Grammy Awards, when she sang a historic duet with one of her many students, Beyoncé, and the following year she went on her first tour in over a decade, all in an effort to commemorate her 50 years in the entertainment industry.

3. Conclusion

The legendary singer Tina Turner passed away on Wednesday at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, a suburb of Zurich. Her raspy voice, sexual charisma, and explosive energy made her one of the most memorable live performers and most successful recording artists in history. She was 83 years old.

Her spokesman, Bernard Doherty, released a statement announcing her death, although he did not specify how she passed away. She was reported to be battling a number of diseases, including renal disease and a stroke, in recent years.