So far few stars have traveled.
NEW YORK — Tina Turner, an unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her terrible marriage to chart in middle age Succeeded with topping. What does love have to do with it?” Died at the age of 83.
Turner died Tuesday at his home in Küsnacht, near Zurich, Switzerland, after a long illness, according to his manager. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.
Few stars have traveled so far—she was born Anna Mae Bullock in a segregated hospital in Tennessee and spent her final years in a 260,000-square-foot estate on Lake Zurich—and she has overcome a lot. Physically battered, emotionally devastated, and financially devastated by her 20-year relationship with Ike Turner, she became a superstar in her own right in the 40s, at a time when most of her peers had gone downhill. were, and was a top draw for the concert. Years later
With fans ranging from Beyoncé to Mick Jagger, Turner was one of the world’s most successful entertainers, known for pop, rock and rhythm and blues favorites: “Proud Mary,” “Nut. Bush City Limits,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” and his 80s hits include “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero” and All Green Cover of “Let’s Stay Together”.
Her trademarks were her growing composure, her cheeky smile and strong cheekbones, her palette of wigs and muscular, toned legs that she wasn’t shy about showing off. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, won 12 Grammys, was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 with Ike (and himself in 2021) and honored with Beyoncé and Oprah at the Kennedy Center in 2005. Awarded by Winfrey among her admirers. His life became the basis for a 2021 film, a Broadway musical and an HBO documentary he called Public Farewell.
Until she left her husband and revealed their backstory, she was best known as an onstage foil to Ike, the leading lady of the “Ike and Tina Turner Revue.” Ike was billed first and ran the show, choosing material, arrangements, backing singers. They toured continuously for years, in part because Ike was often short of money and unwilling to miss concerts. Tina Turner suffered from bronchitis, pneumonia and a collapsed right lung.
Other times, the cause of his misfortune was Ike himself.
As she recounted in her memoir, “I, Tina,” Ike began beating her in the mid-1950s, shortly after they met, and grew increasingly vicious. Enraged by anything and everything, he would throw hot coffee in her face, choke her, or beat her until her eyes were swollen shut, then rape her. Before a show, he broke her jaw and she went on stage with a bloody mouth.
Afraid of both being with and without Ike, she credits her budding Buddhism in the mid-1970s with giving her a sense of strength and self-confidence, and she finally left in early July 1976. . The Ike and Tina Turner Revue was about to embark on a tour celebrating the country’s bicentennial when Tina walked out of her Dallas hotel room with only a Mobile credit card and 36 cents while Ike slept. She sped onto a nearby highway, avoiding a speeding truck, and found another hotel to stay at.
“I looked at him (Ike) and thought, ‘You beat me last time, you sucker,'” he recalled in his memoir.
Turner was among the first celebrities to speak out about domestic abuse, becoming a hero to women and a symbol of resilience for all. Ike Turner did not deny abusing her, although he tried to blame Tina for their troubles. When he died in 2007, a representative for his ex-wife said simply: “Tina knows Ike has passed away.”
This was obvious to many Ike and Tina fans. The Turners were a hot act for much of the 1960s and ’70s, from bluesy songs like “A Fool in Love” and “It’s Going to Work Out Fine” to “Proud Mary” and ” “Come Together” developed to a glossy cover. and other rock songs that brought them crossover success.
They opened for the Rolling Stones in 1966 and 1969, and were seen performing a sultry version of Otis Redding’s “I Love You Too Much” in the 1970 Stones documentary “Game Shelter.” Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett gave Oscar-nominated performances as Ike and Tina in the 1993 film “What Love Got to Do With It,” which was based on “I, Tina,” but she says that Ike It was very painful to spend my years with Couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie).
Ike and Tina’s reworking of “Proud Mary,” originally a hard, mid-tempo hit for the Creedence Clearwater Revival, helped define their aggressive, sensual image. Against a backdrop of funky guitar and Ike’s crooning baritone, Tina opens with some spoken word about how some people just want to hear “nice and easy” songs.
Associated Press writer Hilary Fox contributed to this report.