She is one of the pioneering rock ’n’ roll stars in the world. The singer who became world famous in the 80’s died at the age of 83 years old yesterday. Tina Turner’s family has confirmed that the Proud Mary singer died after a long illness at her home in Zurich, Switzerland, where she became a citizen more than ten years ago. Her publicist Bernard Doherty said, "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. With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model."

ILL HEALTH

Her management announced her death in a statement saying they mourn with her family, "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner. 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."  According to reports, Tina suffered ill health in recent years, after being diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and having a kidney transplant in 2017.

HER TOXIC LOVE STORY

Tina, real name Anna Mae Bullock, was born on 26 November 1939 and raised in Nutbush, Tennessee, where she picked cotton with her family as a child. She started singing at the town’s church choir and as a teenager, she sang her way into Ike Turner’s band in St Louis. Impressed with her singing, Ike dubbed Anna, Tina Turner, and trademarked the name in case she left him. Their relationship was filled with ups and down that led to Ike’s abusiveness. She tried to leave the group and he hit her with a wooden shoe stretcher. "My relationship with Ike was doomed the day he figured out I was going to be his money-maker," Turner wrote in her 2018 biography My Love Story. "He needed to control me, economically and psychologically, so I could never leave him."

A LIFE WELL-LIVED

She made her debut project under the name Tina Turner with Ike. Her single A Fool in Love was released in July 1960, which broke the US Top 30 and other charts. But it was their live performances that made audiences fall in love with her performance. They toured together across the world. In 1964, they signed to Warner Bros imprint Loma Records and released their first album to chart: Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show. After two-decades of working with abusive Ike, she went on her own path and became one of the defining pop icons of the 1980s with the album Private Dancer. Her life was documented in three memoirs, a biopic, a jukebox musical and in 2021, the acclaimed documentary film titled, Tina. Her songs Typical Male, The Best, Private Dancer and Better Be Good to Me became known the world over. Her 1988 show in Rio de Janeiro drew 180,000 people, which remains one of the largest concert audiences for any single performer.