"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. Video / Getty
Many said her music and her life story were inspirations as she overcame abuse during her marriage to Ike Turner and emerged as a star on her own.
Rock and soul singers, civil rights activists and political leaders mourned Tina Turner as a trailblazing artist whose music and life epitomisedresilience, determination, heart and the power to not only survive but thrive over five decades in the music industry.
“Tina would have so much energy during her performances and was a true entertainer,” Magic Johnson, the former star of the Los Angeles Lakers, wrote on Twitter. “She created the blueprint for other great entertainers like Janet Jackson and Beyoncé and her legacy will continue on through all high-energy performing artists.”
As news spread of Turner’s death, at 83, in Switzerland, many said her life story was an inspiration as she overcame abuse during her marriage to Ike Turner and emerged as a star on her own, with the release of her solo album Private Dancer in 1984.
“This woman rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of abuse, a derailed career, and no money to a renaissance like I’ve never seen in entertainment,” Sherrilyn Ifill, the former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said on Twitter. “She became fully herself and showed us all how it’s done.”
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, who toured with Turner in Britain in 1966 and then in the United States in 1969, in a series of concerts that helped introduce her music to white audiences, said that he was “so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner.”
“She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer,” Jagger wrote on Instagram. “She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”
Tina Turner with Mick Jagger at a Live-Aid concert in Philadelphia in 1985. Photo / Getty Images
R&B and soul singer Aaron Neville recalled when the Neville Brothers toured Europe with Turner in 1990, selling out shows with more than 70,000 fans in attendance. It was during that tour, he said, when he came up with the idea for his song, The Roadie Song, as he watched the crew set up stages all across Europe.
“She showed us much love and respect,” Neville wrote on Twitter. “I know she has a place in the heavenly band.”
Turner’s career began in the late 1950s, when she was in high school in East St. Louis, Illinois, and spanned half a century, as she moved from singing R&B and soul into rock and pop. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Ike Turner in 1991 again as a solo artist in 2021.
She gave her final public performance in 2009 and then retired.
“Tina Turner was our voice,” Mayor Eric Adams of New York wrote on Twitter. “She’s an icon who knocked down boundaries, shook our soul and redefined music. She overcame so much to become an icon.”
Kelly Rowland, the singer formerly of Destiny’s Child, is part of a younger generation of singers who drew inspiration from Turner: “Thank you Queen, for giving us your all!” she wrote. “We Love You!!”
R&B singer Ciara wrote: “Heaven has gained an angel. Rest in Paradise Tina Turner. Thank you for the inspiration you gave us all.”
And rapper and songwriter Kid Cudi wrote that Turner was a hero to his mother, and “she was the ultimate superhero to me too.”
