American rock and pop icon Tina Turner died on Wednesday at the age of 83 following a long illness, announces Reuters. According to his agent, the interpreter of Proud Mary and of River Deep, Mountain High East “ passed away peacefully” at his home near Zurich, Switzerland.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Tina Turner”said his spokesperson in a statement posted on the singer’s Instagram account, announcing that she was leaving “behind her her greatest work: her music”. “With her music and her endless passion for life, she has enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow”, the statement added. The White House, she hailed a “icon”and lamented “a huge loss”.
Tina Turner, the “queen of rock ‘n‘roll »
Born in Nutbush, Tennessee on November 26, 1939, Anna Mae Bullock, her real name, was raised by parents who were factory workers. Abandoned by her father, a violent man, she begins to sing gospel in the choir of her church.
In 1956, she moved to Missouri accompanied by her mother and sister. There she met rock musician Ike Turner, who would later become her husband and stage partner. Enthralled by her voice as she sang in a “rhythm and blues” club, the singer hired her as a backup singer for his shows.
In 1960, a singer who had to perform A Fool in Love for Turner’s band did not show up for the recording session. Anna Mae replaces her at short notice and the title becomes a success, reaching second place in the Top 30 of the US charts. Ike Turner then persuades her to change her name to Tina Turner, when they are not even married yet. A violent, drug-addicted and selfish man, he finally convinces her to marry him, so that his ex-wife does not obtain custody of his children. Tina Turner describes their wedding in Tijuana, Mexico in 1962 as “ a nightmare that ends in a brothel”.
The couple formed a successful musical duo during the 60s and 70s. But Ike’s cocaine addiction and increasingly irascible behavior led Tina to leave her husband in 1976, with 36 cents and a station pass. service in the pocket. In the 80s, she began a solo career and became a world icon, stringing together hit hits like What’s Love Got to Do with It, We Don’t Need Another Hero Or The Best. She will then earn the nickname of “queen of rock ‘n‘roll » with his fans.
Tina Turner will even begin a career in the cinema, giving the reply to Mel Gibson in the third part of madmax in 1985 or to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero in 1993. She signed in 1995 the original song of GoldenEye17th installment of the James Bond saga.
After the end of her career, the singer accumulates health problems. In 2016, she announced that she had bowel cancer. To avoid heavy treatment, she turns to homeopathy and alternative medicine, which causes her chronic kidney failure and costs her a kidney.
The disease will eventually prevail after a prolific journey. According to Guinness Book records, she is the musical artist who has sold the most concert tickets during her career, with nearly 200 million tickets.
