Tina Turner 'Queen of Rock and Roll' Dies at 83

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939. Her manager and abusive husband Ike Turner gave her the stage name Tina Turner. He trademarked the name so that if Bullock left him as his previous singers had done in the past, he could replace her with another "Tina Turner." Tina kept the name after they divorced. She kept the name Tina Turner after she married Erwin Bach in 2013 who was 16 years her junior. They had a 27-year romantic relationship before they married in a civil ceremony in Switzerland.

The world-renowned singer and "Queen of Rock and Roll" died peacefully at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, according to her representative.

Tina's Career

Tina wasn't just a singer. She was also a dancer, actress, and author. Ike Turner discovered her when she was 17 years old and became her manager. They sang together when they were married. In fact, the duo became a popular duo in music history.

After they split in 1976, Tina became a successful solo performer. She sold over 100 million records worldwide and became one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She received 12 Grammy Awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tina was the first Black artist and the first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine which ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Tina was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She was also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year Award.

Tina Turner will be remembered for many of her greatest hits, including Proud Mary, Simply the Best, and What's Love Got to Do With It?

Interesting Things About Tina Turner

Voice and Legs: Tina Turner was known over the world because of her raspy, commanding vocals and her dancing. She showed her legs in almost all of her performances. Her long legs were called the most expensive in history because they reportedly were insured for $3.2 million.

Being Abused: After being abused over and over by Ike, Tina fled and hid from him with only 36 cents and a Mobil credit card.

Common Law Marriage: Court records show that Ike Turner was legally married to another woman when he and Tina had a wedding ceremony. Even though they were in a common-law marriage for 16 years, they still had to go through a legal divorce.

Tina's Sons: Tina had two sons, one by Ike and the first son from a previous relationship. She wrote in her autobiography I, Tina that after her divorce she became "a little bit estranged" from her two and Ike's two sons from a previous relationship. There had been reports of Turner's estrangement from all four sons in the years before her death.

Religion: Even though Tina grew up in a Baptist church, she later became a Buddhist. During the hardest times of her life, she chanted for four hours every day. Later, she didn't chant as much, but she maintained daily Buddhist practices.

Citizenship: Tina did not have dual citizenship. She relinquished her American citizenship when she became a citizen of Switzerland in 2013. She had only a Switzerland passport.

Life-Threatening Illnesses: Even though no official cause of death has been revealed, Tina was known to have suffered multiple life-threatening illnesses, including cancer, strokes, and kidney failure in her final years.

Three weeks after her wedding to Erwin Bach in 2013, Tina suffered a stroke and had to learn to walk again. Three years later, she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. She treated her high blood pressure with homeopathic remedies. The hypertension resulted in damage to her kidneys and eventual kidney failure. She signed up to be a member of Exit because she considered assisted suicide. Instead, Bach donated a kidney for her transplant on April 7, 2017.