Tina Turner, the legendary rock and soul singer with hits like “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “River Deep—Mountain High,” and “The Best,” has died, according to Rolling Stone. She was 83 years old.
“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 in a statement Wednesday (via RS). “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”
Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock, began her career performing with her husband Ike Turner in the late 1950s. Their partnership was commercially and critically successful, with several Grammy nominations including a win for their cover of “Proud Mary” in 1972. However, their marriage was characterized by abuse, as chronicled in her 1986 memoir I, Tina: My Life Story. (That book was later adapted into the film What’s Love Got To Do With It starring Angela Bassett.)
Turner extricated herself from the marriage in 1978, and after a period of solo touring and musical experimentation had a definitive comeback with her album Private Dancer in 1984. That album included the single “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” which became her only Billboard #1 and garnered multiple Grammys (for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance). She would go on to have a highly successful solo career—highlights of which include duetting with David Bowie, participating in “We Are The World,” and recording the James Bond theme “GoldenEye,” among others—before retiring from touring in 2009.
Turner appeared as an actor in films like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Last Action Hero in addition to being the author of multiple autobiographical works. Her life was depicted onstage in the Broadway jukebox musical Tina, and participated in a documentary film with the same name for HBO in 2021.
Turner’s personal life was at times characterized by tragedy—beyond her first marriage, she also outlived her two sons Craig and Ronnie (via Reuters). But her powerhouse vocals not only immortalized her as the “Queen of Rock and Roll,” she also inspired generations of artists to come. Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, and Janelle Monáe are just some of the stars who have spoken on the influence Turner had on them as artists, to say nothing of her legions of fans.
Over her lifetime, Turner was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, with Ike in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She is survived by husband Erwin Bach and two sons of Ike’s that she adopted, per Reuters.
R.I.P.