Music icon Tina Turner pays tribute to 'dear friend' and North East musician John Miles

• Ray Spencer from The Customs House in South Shields on the life and career of John Miles

Music legend Tina Turner has paid tribute to her 'dear friend' John Miles, the South Tyneside musician who died this month.

Miles, best-known for his 1976 hit 'Music', performed with Turner during every one of her tours since 1987 and played on several of her albums.

Turner says she is "eternally grateful" for the time she spent with Miles, who she describes as a "beautiful soul".

"I was heartbroken to hear about my dear friend John Miles," she told ITV News Tyne Tees.

"John was not only a terrific musician and an indispensable member of my band, but a beautiful soul and a beloved friend.

Multi-instrumentalist Miles played keyboards, guitar and sang on tour with Turner.

He died in his sleep on Sunday 5 December, surrounded by his family in hospital in Newcastle.

His funeral took place on Friday 17 December in South Tyneside.

Miles released 10 studio albums between 1976 and 1999, as well as many singles including the tracks Highfly, Slowdown, Remember Yesterday and The Right To Sing, which all made the UK singles chart.

He performed regularly at the Night of the Proms concerts in Europe and also received an outstanding contribution prize at the Progressive Rock awards in 2017.

Miles was married to his wife, Eileen, for more than 50 years, and had two children and two grandchildren.

Son John Miles Jnr described his father as "one in a million".

In April 2020 - after over 40 years of music industry success - Miles joined up with the Antwerp Philharmonic "Quarantine" Orchestra to play and "isolated global performance" of 'Music'.