Tina Turner, the music superstar whose career spanned five decades, has died aged 83. His death was confirmed to CBS News by his spokesman, Bernard Doherty, on Wednesday afternoon.
Known for hits like “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” Turner won 12 Grammy Awards throughout her career.
“Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock’n Roll,’ died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness at her home in Küsnacht, near Zurich, Switzerland,” Doherty said in a press release. “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”
He said Turner will be honored at a private funeral service.
A photo was shared on Turner’s Instagram announcing its passage.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the post said. “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 work more great: his music. All our heartfelt sympathy goes out. to his family. Tina, you will be greatly missed.”
Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939 and rose to fame in 1960 with her performance of Ike Turner’s “A Fool in Love.” She and Ike Turner would later marry and perform as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, traveling across the country and performing alongside a band and female vocalists called the Ikettes.
However, the relationship was abusive, and in 1976 Turner she left her husband. Their divorce was finalized in 1978. Ike Turner death in 2007.
Tina Turner had two biological children, Raymond Craig and Ronald Turner. He survived them both: his eldest son death by suicide in 2018, and her youngest son died in 2022. She also adopted two of Ike Turner’s children from a previous relationship.
In 2013, she married German music executive Erwin Bach after 27 years of dating.
He continued to perform professionally until 2009. During his decades-long career, he released 10 studio albums, had dozens of hit songs, and sold more than 180 million albums worldwide, which which made her one of the most successful female artists of all time. time
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Turner told CBS News in 1984 that he initially struggled to break into the rock and roll genre because of his career.
“I had a really hard time because I’m black. In America, radio programmers don’t program you as a black person like rock ‘n’ roll. You’re R&B,” he said. “That’s something that people aren’t aware of. Prince just walked in there and said ‘I am,’ and you accept me. Of course, he had to make changes … as a guy. But he had to demonstrate. over the years. That’s part of coming to be a woman and being black.”
Turner’s longtime manager Roger Davies said in a statement that Turner was a “unique and remarkable force of nature with his incredible strength, energy and immense talent.”
“From the first day I met her in 1980, she completely believed in herself when few others did at the time,” Davies said. “It was a privilege and an honor to have been her close friend and manager for over 30 years. I will miss her dearly.”
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