One of the most recognisable, influential and powerful voices ever to grace the world is gone.
On Wednesday May 24, it was announced that Tina Turner, who’s greatest hits include the likes of The Best, What’s Love Got To Do With It and Proud Mary, had died at the age of 83.
The news was confirmed by her publicist, who said in a statement: ‘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.’
Her cause of death is yet to be announced.
Fans across the globe are in mourning over the immeasurable loss, having shared her talent with the world for more than six decades.
Born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26 1939 in Brownsville, Tennessee, Turner sang in a choir as a young girl, but her career kicked off after she met her future ex-husband Ike Turner.
After he heard her sing, Turner eventually joined his band, The King Of Rhythm, becoming the group’s first female member.
It didn’t take long until it was apparent that she needed to be front and centre and recognised in the band’s title too, which promptly became the Ike And Tina Turner Revue in 1960.
Having already welcomed a son, Craig Raymond Turner, with Kings of Rhythm saxophonist Raymond Hill, Turner and Ike were married in 1962, shortly after she gave birth to their first child Ronnie.
The band went from strength to strength, leading all the way up to one of their most enduring hits, River Deep – Mountain High, in 1966, six years before they won a Grammy for Proud Mary.
However, behind the scenes, Turner was suffering abuse at her husband’s hands, resulting in her leaving the marriage in 1976.
It was in the 1980s that she hit her stride as a solo artist, with her career experiencing a huge resurgence.
This rebirth began in 1983 with Al Green cover Let’s Stay Together and following up with the release of her fifth studio album, Private Dancer, in 1984.
The second single from the record, What’s Love Got To Do With It, won her a Grammy for Record of the Year, and she subsequently embarked on her second world tour.
In 1986, the bona fide legend was rightfully honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and nine years later she lent her voice to the James Bond theme GoldenEye, for the Pierce Brosnan film of the same name.
Tina’s life was depicted on screen in the 1993 biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It, with Angela Bassett in the lead role opposite Laurence Fishburne as Ike, for which both actors were nominated for Oscars.
In recent years, fans of Tina have been given a chance to learn even more about her life by going to watch a biographical musical on stage, titled Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.
The productions on Broadway and the West End have received critical acclaim and numerous award nominations, including a win at the Laurence Olivier Awards.
Just two years ago, Turner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, after both she and Ike were inducted as a duo in 1991.
Following her abusive marriage to Ike, Turner fell in love with German music executive Erwin Bach, who worked for her European record label EMI. After 27 years together they wed in a civil ceremony in 2013.
Throughout her career and her ascension to the title of Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Turner sold more than 100million records across the globe, as well as winning 12 Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
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