Tina Turner Dead: Legendary Singer Dies At 83

Iconic singer Tina Turner has died at the age of 83 on May 24. The news was confirmed in a statement on her Facebook page.

Tina Turner’s team released a statement via Facebook confirming the singer’s death on May 24. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the message read. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.

The singer’s family also shared a separate statement. “Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock’n Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,” her family said, per Rolling Stone. “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”

Specific details about the “long illness” were not confirmed. Throughout her incredible career, Tina won 12 Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. She was also inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame twice — once with Ike Turner, and then again as a solo artist.

Born Anne Marie Bullock in Brownsville, Tennessee in 1939, Tina began her singing career when she saw her ex-husband Ike Turner’s band Kings of Rhythm perform at a nightclub in 1957. She began recording with him in 1958, but her first single as Tina Turner was released in 1960. After her debut single “A Fool in Love,” she and Ike performed as the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, and the duo signed with Phil Spector’s label in 1966. The late 60s became a hugely successful period for Tina, with the band opening for The Rolling Stones and becoming the first Black woman to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. 

Tina and Ike were married via the common law rule in 1962, and after their split in 1976, she accused him of being abusive throughout their relationship. She also accused him of cheating on her and physically hitting her. While Ike denied that he “beat” the singer in his autobiography, he did admit that he slapped her and occasionally punched her. Tina walked out on Ike in July 1976, but their divorce was not finalized until 1978. Following Ike’s death in 2007, Tina’s spokesperson released a short statement. “Tina hasn’t had any contact with Ike in more than 30 years. No further comment will be made,” they said, via Access Hollywood. 

After splitting from Ike, Tina had an illustrious solo career. Her first solo record following the split was 1978’s Rough, but she had a major comeback in her career in the 1980s, when she dropped Private Dancer in 1984. The album topped the R&B chart and went to #3 on the Billboard chart. Her follow-up Break Every Rule hit #4 on the Billboard chart in 1986.

Besides her career as a musician, Tina also dabbled in acting. She played “The Acid Queen” in the 1975 film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy, and the song also provided the title to her album of the same name that year. She also played Aunt Entity in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. She also provided vocals for the 1993 biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It about her relationship with Ike Turner. The movie starred Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne as Tina and Ike, respectively, and they  were each nominated for the Best Leading Actor and Actress Academy Awards in 1994. Her life was also the subject of the stage musical Tina, which ran on Broadway from October 2019 until August 2022.

Aside from her illustrious career, Tina also had a gorgeous family, including two biological sons and two adopted sons. She shared one of her biological sons with Raymond Hill and the other with Ike Turner, while also adopting Ike’s two children from a previous relationship. Her biological children, Raymond and Ronnie, passed away in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Raymond died by an apparent suicide, while Ronnie succumbed to his battle with colon cancer.

There have long been rumors of Tina’s apparent estrangement from her sons. In a 2018 interview, Ike Turner Jr., one of Tina’s adopted children, said he hadn’t spoken to her for nearly 20 years. “I don’t think any of my brothers have talked to her in a long time either,” he added in the DailyMail interview.

After Tina’s marriage to Ike ended, she began dating Erwin Bach, 67, in 1986. A German music executive, the pair were together for over 25 years when they got married in July 2013 in Kusnacht, Switzerland. Tina had been living in Switzerland since 1994, and became a Swiss citizen in 2013. She’s survived by Erwin and her two adopted sons from her marriage to Ike: Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner.