Rock and Roll Legend Tina Turner, 83, Dies

The Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner, died Wednesday at her home in Zurich, Switzerland, according to Reuters. She was 83 years old.

Turner had a plethora of hits throughout her career, both as a solo act and as a duo with Ike Turner, to whom she was married. Her biggest songs include instantly recognizable hits — "River Deep - Mountain High," "What's Love Got to Do With It," "The Best" and "Private Dancer." She also won eight Grammy awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... twice.

Turner was born in Tennessee as Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939. She moved to St. Louis as a teenager to live with her mom, and famously met Ike Turner when she grabbed the microphone during one of his shows when he was performing with the Kings of Rhythm in East St. Louis.

The moment would go down in rock music history. Turner asked Bullock if she knew any more songs and later recorded a demo with her.  He also came up with Bullock's stage name, Tina Turner, even though the two didn't marry until 1962.


Her first hit as Tina Turner was "A Fool in Love" in July 1960. After that, Ike created the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which included Ike's band and a girl group called the Ikettes. Turner also recalled that it was around this time that Ike first hit her, after she told him she wanted to end their relationship.

The two achieved mainstream fame by 1966 with "River Deep - Mountain High." The duo later opened for the Rolling Stones and recorded at Carnegie Hall. In her autobiography I, Tina, Turner revealed that Ike was promiscuous and abusive for the duration of their marriage. She got divorced in 1978.

Turner was down, but not out. After she famously escaped her abusive marriage, she appeared on shows like The Sonny & Cher Show, The Brady Bunch Hour and Hollywood Squares to make ends meet, but her music was not charting in the late 1970s or early '80s.

Finally in 1983, Tina started her comeback. She covered "Let's Stay Together," a hit for Al Green, which got her a record deal. That record was Private Dancer, which had the hit song "What's Love Got to Do With It." The album, which she recorded in just two weeks, reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 in the U.K.

Turner also adopted a sexier stage persona including short skirts, tight pants and big hair, and racked up a bunch of Grammy wins throughout the '80s, including Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "One of the Living."

Tina kept making hits and even performed alongside Beyonce at the Grammys in 2008. In December 2016, she had the distinction of having her songs used in a jukebox musical about her life, Tina — The Tina Turner Musical.

The songstress also famously renounced her American citizenship and became a Swiss citizen.


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