Rock and roll icon Tina Turner has died at the age of 83

Tina Turner, a soul and rock icon known for her octave-defying voice and mesmerizing stage presence, has died at the age of 83.

According to a statement released by his publicist, he died on Wednesday at his residence in Switzerland after a long illness.

In her 2018 autobiography, Tina Turner: My Love Story, Turner detailed a multitude of health problems she had suffered since 2013, including a stroke, intestinal cancer and kidney failure. Erwin Bach, her second spouse, saved her life in 2017 by donating a kidney.

Turner achieved renown both as a solo artist and as a duo with her first husband, Ike Turner, throughout her six-decade recording career. With the latter, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and became a fixture on the mainstream and R&B charts in the 1960s and 1970s.

Tina’s diverse vocal influences influenced the duo’s high-energy soul and rock. She grew up listening to country music, but she had many idols: ’50s R&B vocalists LaVern Baker and Faye Adams; gospel legend Mahalia Jackson and rock pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe; blues legend BB King; and soul legends Ray Charles and Sam Cooke.

Consequently, he possessed a malleable and adaptable voice, capable of emitting a searing rock growl or diving into his lower register to perform smoky blues or velvety R&B songs.

One of Ike & Tina’s most popular compositions, “River Deep, Mountain High,” was even a triumph of orchestral gospel produced by Phil Spector.

Turner added a tone of longing and desperation to the Beatles’ already pleading “Come Together,” and added more country flavor to the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.” Her signature song, a furious rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” became a showcase for her sultry soul drawl and raspy rock ‘n’ roll scream.

This composition earned Turner her first Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. She would win eight Grammy Awards in total, including Best Female Rock Vocal Performance three years in a row in the 1980s.

In addition to her vocal ability, Turner possessed a commanding stage presence that was often described as “electrifying.”

This always seemed to be an understatement: at the microphone, Turner vibrated with energy, like a kettle about to boil, and possessed a natural athleticism that translated into agile but forceful dancing on stage. Rolling Stone’s Ben Fong-Torres wrote in 1971 that Tina was once nicknamed “the female Mick Jagger.”

To be more precise, Mick should be referred to as the male Tina Turner. Turner herself implied in the same Rolling Stone article that Jagger closely examined her movements during the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour with Ike. Consequently, her 1985 Live Aid performance of the Jacksons’ “State of Shock” was explosive.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend Tina Turner,” Jagger wrote on Instagram. “She was a performer and singer of exceptional aptitude. She was awesome, friendly, fun and generous. I will never forget all the help she gave me when I was young.

Turner, who was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, grew up in rural Nutbush, Tennessee, but also spent time in Knoxville as a result of her parents’ employment.

Her father abandoned the family when she was 13 and she had a distant relationship with both her mother and father as a child. However, she found solace in her ability to act.

In Tina Turner: My Love Story, she describes her music-filled shopping trips when she was 4 or 5 years old and was paid by saleswomen to sing radio songs she had memorized and the thrill of directing her cousins, her half-sister Evelyn, and his sister. Alline in fantasy theatrical performances.

Later, he refined his performing skills by singing at picnics with Mr. Bootsy Whitelaw, a renowned trombonist in the region.

Turner moved to St. Louis at the age of 16 to reside with Alline and her mother and began frequenting East St. Louis’ legendary Club Manhattan, where he first witnessed Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm.

After his improvised performance of BB King’s “You Know I Love You” impressed the band’s leader in 1957, he ended up joining the group. Eventually, the group was renamed Ike and Tina Turner Revue to emphasize Tina’s elevated status.

By all accounts, Ike was personally and professionally excessively cruel to Tina. Turner wrote in My Love Story: “In retrospect, I realize that my relationship with Ike was doomed the day he realized that I was going to be his bread and butter, his source of income.” of the”.

He then described how he was a last-minute replacement to sing on “A Fool In Love,” which became the duo’s first hit, reaching No. 2 on the R&B charts in 1960, and how he was so impressive that an executive from the Seal told Ike to make Tina the star of the group.

She continued,

“What went through Ike’s mind when he heard that advice?” The problems began when he had to find a means to safeguard his interests.

Over the years, Turner has been open about certain aspects of their time together, but she told The New York Times in 2019 that she never revealed it all:

“I am humiliated. I think I’ve said enough. Ike physically and mentally abused her, changed Tina Turner’s name to “Tina Turner” without his permission, and trademarked the name without his consent.

In 1976, while the couple was on tour in Dallas, she left him virtually penniless. During a 2017 appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, she said:

“I came out with nothing and had to support my family and everyone on my own, so I went back to working for myself.”

Turner had released two solo albums while still performing with Ike: Tina Turns the Country On! from 1974, a stripped-down album featuring her interpretations of songs by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson, and 1975’s rock-oriented Acid Queen.

Her initial forays into the entertainment industry after the breakup focused on mainstream shows, such as the game show Hollywood Squares and the Cher variety television series, as well as live cabaret-style concerts and two albums that failed to chart.

He also recorded a stylish electro-pop rendition of the Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion” for the album Music Of Quality & Distinction, Volume One, which was released by Heaven 17 members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh under the name BEF. .

1984 would prove to be a turning point for Turner. She collaborated with David Bowie on the reggae-influenced title track of his album Tonight and eventually achieved major success on his behalf with the box-office hit Private Dancer.

As with “Ball of Confusion,” the album adopted the most inventive and avant-garde production values ​​of the decade; in fact, Ware co-produced two songs while retaining Turner’s robust voice and eclectic influences.

The album’s track listing included the title track, written by Mark Knopfler, along with adaptations of songs by David Bowie (“1984”), the Beatles (“Help!”) and Ann Peebles (“I Can’t Stand the Rain”). ” ).

Private Dancer also included his only solo number one single, the vulnerable and opulent “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” The single, which also won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, featured a cathartic, vivid vocal performance that heralded her sophisticated second act and cemented her reputation as a survivor, a label and an aesthetic she embraced. . .

As the decade progressed, Turner’s commercial resurgence persisted. He co-starred in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which spawned the dramatic ballad “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and the Grammy-winning “One of the Living,” as well as the Bryan Adams duet. “It’s Only Love,” the upbeat seduction “Typical Male,” and the empowerment anthem “The Best.”

Turner became one of the first MTV icons due to her angular hairstyle and powerful miniskirts that showed off her legendary legs. She performed at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 and won Best Female Video the following year for “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”

The 1993 biographical film What’s Love Got to Do with It was largely responsible for Turner’s sustained commercial success throughout the ’90s. The film featured Laurence Fishburne as Ike and Angela Bassett as Tina. The film was based on her 1986 autobiography, I, Tina.

Both actors were nominated for Oscars, and Bassett won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. “I Don’t Wanna Fight” became a top 10 hit worldwide and in the United States, launching Turner’s career. In 1995, she won another prestigious award for performing “GoldenEye” for the 1995 James Bond film of the same name.

Turner, who moved to Switzerland in 1995, began to reduce his load in the late 1990s and 2000s, eventually retiring in 2009, following a 50th anniversary tour.

However, she remained an active steward of her own legacy; She worked closely in the development of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which debuted on Broadway in fall 2019.

And at the 2008 Grammy Awards, she performed a dazzling performance of “Proud Mary” alongside Beyoncé. It’s easy to see the moment of Turner passing the torch to a younger musician in retrospect. However, the performance demonstrated once again that she was firmly in charge of her extensive musical legacy.