Legendary singer Tina Turner dies, aged 83

24 May 2023, 19:48 | Updated: 25 May 2023, 15:21

Soul singer Tina Turner has died at the age of 83.

Tina Turner had been battling a number of health issues in recent years including cancer, a stroke and kidney failure.

"With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model," her representatives said in a statement.

"There will be a private funeral ceremony attended by close friends and family. Please respect the privacy of her family at this difficult time."

The singer sold over 100 million records, earned 12 Grammy Awards nominations, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also the first black artist and the first female to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.

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Born on November 26, 1939, in rural Tennessee, Tina Turner's parents, Floyd and Zelma Bullock, were sharecroppers. The couple separated in the 50s resulting in Tina and her sisters Alline and Evelyn going to live with their maternal grandmother in Nutbush, Tennessee.

Singer Tina Turner dies aged 83

RIP #TinaTurner 💜

When Tina was just 16-years-old she moved to St.Louis, Missouri where in 1956 she met Ike Turner and started performing with his band Kings of Rhythm.

Tina Turner's real name was Anna Mae Bullock and she had begun her career performing under the name Little Ann, until Ike Turner persuaded her to change it to Tina Turner, so the duo could perform together as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.

The pair were married from 1962 - 1978 and have two singles inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, 'River Deep – Mountain High' and 'Proud Mary' and in 2015 Rolling Stone ranked them No. 2 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.

However all was not well between the two, with Tina later reporting severe emotional and mental throughout the marriage, and following her decision to file for divorce 1976, she launched what became known as "one of the greatest comebacks in music history".

Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer was a big hit around the world, and she quickly became one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Selling over 20 million copies and earning Tina three Grammy Awards, the song 'What's Love Got To Do With It' and a cover of the Bonnie Tyler hit 'The Best (Simply The Best)' in 1989, put her on the map.

Tina also acted in the films Tommy, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Last Action Hero, and her 1993 biopic What's Love Got to Do with It, brought her story to even more fans.

TINA (2021) Official Trailer | HBO

Tina and Ike Turner had two biological sons Ronald Renelle Turner and Craig Raymond Turner and Tina adopted two of Ike's other children Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner and raised them as her own.

Tragically, Craig Turner was found dead in June 2018 when he was 59-years-old an in 2022, her son Ronnie died aged 62.

In 1986 Turner met her second husband German-born Erwin Bach, when he was sent by record label EMI to collect the star at Heathrow Airport.

Tina and Erwin married in a civil ceremony in July 2013, and in 2016 he famously donated a kidney to save her life after Tina suffered from intestinal cancer and kidney failure.

Tina moved to Europe in the early nineties and lived a quiet life with Erwin on the banks of Lake Zurich, Switzerland for over 20 years.