80’s singing legend, Tina Turner dies at 83

Rock n roll legend Tina Turned died at 83. She was one of the biggest pop singers of the 80’s and had been fighting a prolonged illness for some time.

She was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and had a kidney transplant in 2017. She shot to fame as a solo artist only after leaving her abusive husband Ike Turner in the 80’s with her definitive album Private Dancer.

Her publicist Bernard Doherty issued a statement on May 24 saying, “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.”

Turner – Simply the best

Some of her most chart-topping songs include hits of the 80’s like What’s Love Got to Do with it and Simply the Best. She won six Grammy awards in the 80;s and had a least one dozen songs in the Top 40.

Turner had a unique voice although most of her songs were not written by her.

“It’s three tiered, with a nasal low register, a yowling, cutting middle range and a high register so startlingly clear it sounds like a falsetto,” said New York Times music critic Jon Pareles.

Tributes poured in from all over. Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones fame said she was “inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her,” he said.

Bryan Adams who sang “It’s Only Love” with her said, “the world just lost one hell of a powerhouse of a woman.”

US President Joe Biden described her as a “once in a generation talent” stating that her “personal strength was remarkable.”

Turner’s original name was Anna Mae Bullock and she was born on November 26, 1939 in rural Tennessee. According to her memoir My Love Story, her father was an overseer on a farm and her mother left the family when she was 11. She was discovered by Ike Turner at just 17 and she started to sing at his club show in St Louis in 1957.

Turner and her first album

She struck out on her own in 1980 with her first album. In 1985 she met German music executive Erwin Bach who became her long term partner and in 1988 she moved to London and later lived in Europe. She later married Bach, relinquished her US citizenship and lived in Switzerland.

Tragedy struck when she had to battle a number of illnesses and family tragedies; he oldest son took his life at 59 and her younger son, Ronnie died in December 2022.

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