Tina Turner passes away at 83: How the 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' took over the world one song at a time

The American singer, known for hits such as 'What's Love Got To Do With it?', passed away on May 24 peacefully in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, after suffering from a long illness, her representative said. With a career that spanned close to seven decades, she established herself as one of the greatest female singers of all time, and was even called the 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' for her powerful voice and performance on stage. The singer may have passed on but her legacy will live on for many years to come. Here are some interesting facts about her

Updated On: 2023-05-26 09:23 AM IST

Compiled by : Nascimento Pinto

Tina Turner passed away on May 24 at the age of 83 in her house in Switzerland, after suffering from multiple illnesses for a long time. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Tina Turner, was born as Anna Mae Bullock, on November 26, 1939, in Tennessee's Nutbush. While her father Floyd Richard Bullock worked on a farm, as an overseer, her mother, Zelma Priscilla, left the family when Turner was 11 years old. However, the American singer later reconnected with her. Interestingly, her hometown also features in her 1973 song 'Nutbush City Limits', which the American released when she was a part of the duo, Ike and Tina Turner. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Tina Turner was married to Ike Turner, who discovered her one night at the Manhattan Club, where she sang on stage during an intermission when his band Kings of Rhythm were playing. While she went on to sing with the band, they also formed a duo, Ike & Tina Turner Revue, and released hits such as 'It's Gonna Work Out Fine', 'River Deep – Mountain High', and 'Proud Mary' among others, before disbanding in 1975 and separating in 1978. Photo Courtesy: AFP

After disbanding with Ike, Turner made a return as a solo singer and nothing was the same again because she released her multi-platinum album 'Private Dancer', which had the all-time hit called 'What's Love Got to Do with It', which won the Grammy Award for the Record of the Year; it was one of 12 Grammy Awards that she won during her career. Unsurprisingly, the song was her first and only song to be No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, and also made her the oldest female solo singer to feature on top of it. With success continuing over the years, her 1988 Break Every Rule World Tour, also set the Guinness World Record as 1,80,000 people played to watch her - it was the most number for a solo artist. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Apart from her skyrocketing singing career, Turner was also a songwriter, dancer and actor, who acted in 'Tommy' (1975), 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome' (1985) and the biographical film, 'What's Love Got to Do with It' in 1993; it was based on her autobiography, 'I, Tina: My Life Story'. Many years later in 2018, she was also the subject of the musical, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. After many stage performances, Turner finally retired in 2009, after her Tina! 50th anniversary tour. Photo Courtesy: AFP

In her 2018 memoir 'My Love Story', Turned revealed that she had multiple life-threatening diseases. While she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016, she also suffered from kidney failure later, but her husband Erwin Bach, who she married in 2013, donated his kidney to her. On May 24, 2023, she died due to the effects of these multiple illnesses that she had suffered from for a long time, at 83 in her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Photo Courtesy: AFP

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