Tina Turner, the American-born naturalised Swiss singer, songwriter, and author, died at the age of 83 on Wednesday. She was widely known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and was a prominent singer in the genre.
Her representative said that she had been suffering from an illness for a long time and had passed away peacefully at her home in Küsnacht, near Zurich, Switzerland.
As per reports, her representative has conveyed that the funeral will only include close friends and family in a private setting.
Turner had earned a lot of fan following with her music career, with hits like The Best, River Deep-Mountain High, and What’s Love Got to Do with It. She has won eight Grammy Awards in total, six of which were in the 1980s itself. Her 1988 concert in Rio de Janeiro garnered 1, 80,000, which still remains one of the largest numbers of audience attendance for a show.
Reports suggest that Tina Turner once spent numerous days in South India, visiting various temples to prepare for a role as Goddess Kali in a film that got shelved later on. It is also expected that she visited Eravishwaram Shiva Temple in Kudamaloor, Kerala, and also toured the Northern Malabar region.
Later in her life, Tina was part of a collaborative album called Beyond, which had four instalments in total. The second Beyond album features twelve prayers and mantras from the religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism, performed by thirty children from different cultures and nations, Tina, Regula, and Dechen.
This album included the Hindu mantras “Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu” and “Ganesha Sharanam,” sung by Turner herself. The proceeds from the album were to be equally shared with the TINA Foundation, the Seeschau Foundation, and the DEWA CHE Foundation.
Turner also acted in the third instalment of the Mad Max franchise, opposite actor Mel Gibson, in 1985.
Tina Turner was an icon and inspiration for many, not just for her musical abilities but also for how brave she was to leave her violent relationship with her husband and be open about it. She described how her former husband, guitarist Ike Turner, was abusive during their musical and marital relationship.
Many celebrities came forward in expressing their condolences to the artist, Beyoncé called her the “epitome of passion and power” and Sir Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones said he was saddened by Turner’s death, calling her “inspiring, warm, funny and generous.”
US President Joe Biden described Turner as a “once-in-a-generation talent” and said her “personal strength was remarkable. Overcoming adversity, and even abuse, she built a career for the ages and a life and legacy that were entirely hers.”
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