By Chisomo Phiri
Legendary singer Tina Turner,one of rock’s most famous voices who had hits including ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘The Best’ has died at the age of 83 after a long illness.
In a career spanning over 60 years, the American-Swiss singer, who was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, won eight competitive Grammy Awards and has a star on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St Louis Walk of Fame.
She sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including the certified Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) album sales of 10 million.
Tina Turner also previously held a Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience for a solo performer attracting an audience of 180,000 for her show at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1988.
Her autobiography ‘I, Tina’ was turned into the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It – dramatising the mother-of-two’s famously turbulent relationship with Ike Turner and it also saw Angela Bassett nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Tina in the biopic.
Widely referred to as the Queen of Rock and Roll, she wed her long-time German beau, the music executive Erwin Bach, in a Swiss civil ceremony in 2013, and has lived in Switzerland with him since 1994.
It was a second marriage for the music star, who was previously married to musician Ike from 1962 to 1978.
In her 1986 book, the singer narrated a harrowing tale of abuse, including suffering a broken nose during the course of her marriage to Ike.
Ike died in December 2007 and Tina’s spokeswoman at the time was quoted as saying: “Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.”
She had suffered ill health in recent years, being diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and having a kidney transplant in 2017.
