Tina Turner—the legendary soul singer-songwriter, actor, and author—has died. The news was confirmed in a statement posted to her official social media accounts. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the post reads. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow.”
Turner’s family also confirmed the news in a statement to Rolling Stone, writing that Turner “died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland.” Turner’s family added: “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”
Turner rose to fame in the 1960s alongside her then-husband Ike Turner. She found her biggest success in the 1980s as a solo artist. Dubbed the “Queen of Rock’n’Roll,” Turner’s powerful vocals and passionate performances solidified her as one of the most successful women in the realms of rock, R&B, and pop music. She released nine solo studio albums, won eight competitive Grammy Awards, and was among the best-selling female artist of all time across all genres.
Born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, Tina Turner grew up singing in the church choir. She relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, to live with her great aunt when her parents separated, and began working as a nurse’s aide in St. Louis after graduating from high school. She met Ike Turner performing with his band, the Kings of Rhythm, in the East St. Louis nightlife scene which she frequented. She began singing and recording with Turner, first under the name “Little Ann” until the success of 1960’s “A Fool in Love,” when she adopted the stage name Tina Turner. They married and established the Ike and Tina Turner Revue and found mainstream success through top-charting singles and exhaustive touring. In 1971, they released their most successful album, Workin’ Together, which incorporated more rock than their previous works.
Tina Turner’s first solo album was 1974’s Tina Turns the Country On! She finalized her divorce from Ike in 1978 following a few tumultuous years of drug addiction and abuse. Her fifth album, 1984’s Private Dancer, was considered her “comeback” album as a solo artist, and it included the hit “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and charted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in the United States. Her world tours broke records and she had multiple solo albums go platinum. Turner published her bestselling memoir, I, Tina, in 1986 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Ike Turner in 1991. Two decades later, in 2021, she was inducted as a solo artist. A musical based on Turner’s life and work, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, opened in 2018. Another memoir, My Love Story, also arrived in 2018.