Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger leads tributes to ‘enormously talented’ Tina Turner after her death age 83
MICK Jagger had led tributes to singer Tina Turner following her death at the age of 83.
The music legend thrilled millions with hits including The Best, Private Dancer and What’s Love Got to Do With It in a career spanning five decades.
The Rolling Stones frontman, 79, who admitted to taking inspiration from her high kicks, said: “I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner.
“She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer.
“She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”
Band mate and guitarist Ronnie Wood shared pictures of Tina Turner online, describing her as “a dear friend to our family”.
“God bless you Tina, the Queen Of Rock And Soul and a dear friend to our family,” he wrote.
US singer Diana Ross said she was “shocked” and “saddened” by the news of Tina’s death.
“Sending condolences to Tina Turner’s family and loved ones,” she wrote on Twitter, sharing a picture of the pair together.
Sir Elton John said Tina was a “total legend on record and on stage” in a tribute to the singer following “the saddest news”.
“We have lost one of the world’s most exciting and electric performers. A total legend on record and on stage. She was untouchable,” Sir Elton wrote, sharing a picture of the pair together.
“Condolences to Erwin and her family. The saddest news.”
Singer Mariah Carey said Tina was an “inspiration to women everywhere”.
She tweeted: “The words legendary, iconic, diva, and superstar are often overused and yet Tina Turner embodies them all and so many more – an incredible performer, musician and trailblazer.
“To me, she will always be a survivor and an inspiration to women everywhere.
She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her
Mick Jagger
“Her music will continue to inspire generations to come.
“Rest in Peace, Queen.”
Spice Girl Mel B said hearing of the late Tina’s death was “beyond devastating”.
She wrote in a lengthy Instagram post: “I’m truly lost for words.
“I was at the ‘Tina’ musical last night with Women’s Aid sitting there in total awe of her as a performer her songs her strength just her everything.
“I cried I sang along to every word every song and I celebrated her fight and all her glory, the story of Anna Mae Bullock, who made her life mean something no matter the pain or the struggle, became such an icon a legend, suffering two decades of abuse from her then husband.
“She did the impossible she left him, she survived, she got away, and gave ALL survivors like me hope, so to hear of her passing right now is beyond devastating to me personally.”
The words legendary, iconic, diva, and superstar are often overused and yet Tina Turner embodies them all and so many more
Mariah Carey
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry recalled meeting Tina Turner at Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball in 2006.
Turner was honoured at the three-day celebration ball alongside 24 other African American women in art, entertainment and civil rights.
“I’ll never forget this day at the Legends Ball when I met Tina Turner!” Berry wrote on Twitter.
“She rearranged me with her conversation, her spirit, her depth of character, her grace and most of all her ability to be ordinary and a LEGEND at the time!
“The world will be missing one bright light tonight!”
Singer Paloma Faith hailed Tina Turner as being one of her “greatest influences and inspirations”.
A total legend on record and on stage
Sir Elton John
Paying tribute to Turner following her death aged 83, Faith wrote on Instagram: “I can’t even begin. Really, I can’t.
“Tina you were probably one of my greatest influences and inspirations.
“I grew up with you in the background of my childhood and all through my time learning my craft I always returned to you.
“I am forever grateful I saw you live several times. I am forever in awe of your soul fire and energy. No one comes close.
“Thank you for all the gifts you gave me, and us, as women, to be empowered and stand up for ourselves and be counted by turning our pain into a force of nature.
“You really were incredible… RIP”.
American singer Gloria Gaynor hailed Tina as an “iconic legend who paved the way for so many women in rock music, black and white”.
Gaynor tweeted: “I am so, so very sad to hear of the passing of @TinaTurner, the iconic legend who paved the way for so many women in rock music, black and white.
“She did with great dignity & success what very few would even have dared to do in her time and in that genre of music”.
Oprah Winfrey said Tina was “our forever goddess of rock ‘n’ roll” in her own online tribute to the singer.
The US TV talk show host said Tina was “a role model not only for me but for the world”.
In a lengthy tribute posted to Instagram, Winfrey wrote: “I started out as a fan of Tina Turner, then a full-on groupie, following her from show to show around the country, and then, eventually, we became real friends.
“She is our forever goddess of rock ‘n’ roll who contained a magnitude of inner strength that grew throughout her life.
“She was a role model not only for me but for the world. She encouraged a part of me I didn’t know existed.”
Oprah added that she was “grateful” for Tina’s courage and that her freedom from her domestic abuse had been “a clarion call for triumph”.
“Once she claimed her freedom from years of domestic abuse, her life became a clarion call for triumph,” she said.
“I’m grateful for her courage, for showing us what victory looks like wearing Manolos and a leather miniskirt.
“She once shared with me that when her time came to leave this earth, she would not be afraid, but excited and curious.
“Because she had learned how to LIVE surrounded by her beloved husband, Erwin, and friends.
“I am a better woman, a better human, because her life touched mine. She was indeed simply the best.”
Musician and actress Jennifer Hudson praised Tina for her “grit and determination” and said her legacy would “live forever”.
“This is a sad day for music. The Queen of Rock’n’Roll has passed.
“Tina Turner, we honour you!” she wrote.
“Your legacy will live forever. You showed us all what it means to have the grit and determination to never stop, no matter what life throws our way!
“Thank u for all you’ve given us. Now rest in peace!”
Tina died at the Swiss home she shared with her husband of ten years, German record executive Erwin Bach, 67.
Announcing her death, a representative said: “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 Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland.
“The world loses a music legend and a role model.
“With her music and her inexhaustible vitality, Tina Turner thrilled millions of fans and inspired many artists of subsequent generations.
“A private funeral ceremony will be attended by close friends and family.”
The singer’s official Instagram account posted a black-and-white picture of Tina, with the caption: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner.
“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.”
TINA’S LIFE
She was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, Tennessee, US – the town later commemorated in her hit Nutbush City Limits.
Tina was abandoned by her parents as a child – mum Zelma suffered domestic abuse from husband Floyd Bullock.
The singer then herself suffered years of ill-treatment at the hands of husband and music partner, Ike Turner, whom she wed in 1962.
Before things went sour enjoyed success as Ike & Tina Turner Revue and a big hit with 1971’s Proud Mary.
She later claimed Ike, who died in 2007, physically beat her, claiming arguing with her co-star “would just make him mad, and that might lead to a beating”.
Tina finally fled her abusive marriage in July 1976 with just 36 cents in her pocket – to become a solo breakout sensation.
MORE THAN 180M ALBUMS SOLD
She sold more than 180million albums, won 12 Grammy Awards had 11 UK top 10 hits and sold out Wembley Stadium three times.
Aldwych Theatre, where Tina The Musical is based, said it was “so proud to tell her story”.
The theatre tweeted: “Rest in peace Tina Turner, Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
“We are so proud to tell her story on our stage and celebrate such a formidable woman with audiences of all ages.
“Our thoughts are with her family at this time.”
In October 2021, music giant BMG acquired Turner’s music interests including her share in her recordings, her music publishing writer’s share, neighbouring rights and name, image and likeness.
BMG chief executive Hartwig Masuch said: “There will only ever be one Tina Turner.
“Her music and her life’s journey touched so many people. We send our condolences to her dear manager and husband Erwin, and all those who loved her.”
It comes just months after Turner’s son Ronnie died at the age of 62.
His death was later confirmed to be in relation to “complications from colon cancer” and “atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease”.
Heartbroken Tina paid tribute in one of her final public statements, saying: “Ronnie, you left the world far too early.
“In sorrow I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son.”
HEALTH SCARES
In later years she was hit by a plague of health scares – including a 2013 stroke that left her learning to walk again.
Writing in her 2018 autobiography My Love Story, Tina told how her second husband Bach donated one of his kidneys to Turner to save her life after she was faced with the choice of a transplant or lifetime of dialysis.
Adding she “didn’t want to live on a machine”, she said: “Only the transplant would give me a good chance of a near-normal life.
“But the chances of getting a donor kidney were remote.
“I couldn’t eat. I was surviving but not living. I began to think about death.
“If my kidneys were going, and it was time for me to die, I could accept that. It was OK. When it’s time, it’s really time.”
