Tina Turner was a popular American-born Swiss singer, songwriter and actress who was widely known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”. She had a successful career that spanned five decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s.
She won 12 Grammy Awards and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. She died on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83.
In this blog post, you’ll find the full biography of Tina Turner, her early life, career journey, achievements, spouse, children and More.
Tina Turner Early Life, Parents and Siblings
Tina Turner was born as Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, U.S. Her parents, Zelma Priscilla and Floyd Richard Bullock, were sharecroppers who struggled to make ends meet.
During World War II, Tina and her sister, Alline, were separated from their parents and lived with their grandmother in Nutbush, Tennessee.
Tina began singing in the church choir at a young age. When she was 13, her mother left her abusive father and moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Tina and Alline followed her a few years later, after their grandmother died. Tina had no other siblings besides Alline, who remained close to her throughout her life.
Tina Turner Education
Tina Turner attended the Flagg Grove School in Tennessee, a segregated school for African American children, in the 1940s and early 50s. She became a cheerleader, played basketball, and enjoyed a hectic social life.
She graduated in 1958 and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she got a job at a hospital and planned to become a nurse. However, her musical career soon took off after she met Ike Turner and joined his band.
She did not pursue any formal education after high school, but she learned from her experiences in the music industry and later in life. She also wrote two autobiographies, I, Tina (1986) and My Love Story (2018), and inspired a musical, Tina (2018), based on her life story.
Tina Turner Career
Tina Turner had a remarkable career journey that spanned five decades and multiple genres of music.
She started as a background singer for Ike Turner’s band, the Kings of Rhythm, in 1956. She soon became the lead singer and the duo became known as Ike & Tina Turner. They had several hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, such as “River Deep – Mountain High”, “Proud Mary”, and “Nutbush City Limits”.
She divorced Ike in 1978 after years of abuse and struggled to rebuild her solo career. She made a comeback in 1984 with the album Private Dancer, which sold over 20 million copies and won four Grammy Awards. The album included her signature song, “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, which became her first and only number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
She continued to release successful albums and singles in the 1980s and 1990s, such as “Better Be Good to Me”, “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)”, “The Best”, and “GoldenEye”. She also acted in movies like Tommy and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and published her autobiography, I, Tina, which was adapted into a biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It.
She retired from touring in 2009 after completing her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, which was one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. She became a Swiss citizen in 2013 and married her longtime partner, Erwin Bach, the same year. She died in 2023 at the age of 83.
She was widely regarded as one of the greatest singers and performers of all time, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. She sold over 100 million records worldwide and won 12 Grammy Awards, including three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Tina Turner Personal Life, Husband and Children
Tina Turner had a complicated personal life, marked by both love and tragedy. She was married twice and had four children, two of whom died before her.
Her first husband was Ike Turner, a musician and bandleader who discovered her talent and made her a star. They married in 1962 and had one biological son, Ronnie Turner, who was born in 1960. Tina also adopted two of Ike’s sons from a previous relationship, Ike Jr. and Michael Turner, and raised them as her own. However, Ike was abusive and violent towards Tina, and she finally left him in 1976. They divorced in 1978 and Tina later accused him of physical and emotional abuse in her memoir and biopic. Ike died in 2007.
Her second husband was Erwin Bach, a former music executive who worked with EMI, the record label that distributed Tina’s music overseas. They met in 1985 at an airport in Germany and fell in love at first sight. They dated for 27 years and married in 2013 in Switzerland, where they lived together. Erwin was supportive of Tina’s career and causes, and they shared a mutual respect and admiration for each other. Erwin was by Tina’s side when she died in 2023 at the age of 83.
Her eldest son was Craig Turner, who was born in 1958 to Tina and Raymond Hill, a saxophonist in Ike’s band. Ike later adopted Craig and gave him his surname. Craig became a real estate agent in California and had a close relationship with his mother. He died by suicide in 2018 at the age of 59. Tina scattered his ashes off the coast of California and called his death her “saddest moment as a mother”.
Her youngest son was Ronnie Turner, who was born in 1960 to Tina and Ike. He followed his parents’ footsteps and became a musician and actor. He married a French singer named Afida Turner in 2007 and they appeared in several reality shows together. He died of complications from colon cancer in December 2022 at the age of 62. Tina mourned his loss and said he was “a wonderful son and a great talent”.
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Date and Cause of Tina Turner’s Death
Tina Turner died on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83. Her cause of death was a long illness, according to a statement from her publicist. She had suffered from various health problems in recent years, including intestinal cancer, a stroke, high blood pressure, and kidney failure. She died peacefully at her home in Switzerland, where she lived with her husband Erwin Bach.
