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Tina Turner’s turbulent life from children’s tragic deaths to money woes
Today the “queen of rock ‘n’ roll” Tina Turner passed away peacefully at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland.
The 83 year old had an iconic voice that is best known for huge hits such as The Best, Proud Mary and What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Despite her success in the music world, her life was far from plain sailing and she faced her fair share of issues throughout her life in the spotlight.
Childhood
For the start of her life
grew up in Brownsville Tennessee before she was uprooted soon after when her mum decided to leave the family for freedom.
Tina was just 11 years old when her mum Zelma fled the family and sadly it wasn’t long before Tina then was separated from her two sisters and went to live with her grandparents during the war.
In the end, Tina and one of her sisters went to live in St Louis with their mum and that is where Tina met the infamous Ike Turner.
Relationship with Ike
Tina and Ike became famous for making music together before their relationship became synonymous with domestic abuse.
Throughout their relationship, Tina was beaten on many occasions including with a wooden spoon which he used to hit across her head.
Tina was also left with third degree burns after he poured hot coffee onto her face.
Ike also groomed Tina into becoming a star and as part of that he changed her name from Anna Mae Bullock to Tina Turner.
During their relationship they had one child together, Ronnie, and Tina adopted Ike’s two children from a previous marriage – Ike Turner Jr and Michael. She had one child of her own, Raymond, from a previous relationship with Raymond Hill.
During her relationship with Ike Tina hit rock bottom and she ultimately attempted suicide.
After the failed attempt Tina used her struggles to give her the fight and she did end up divorcing her abusive husband.
Money trouble
After the divorce Tina revealed that she lived in fear for the rest of her life after she left her husband with just 36 cents and a Mobil gas card on her.
When the divorce was settled Tina ended up having one of the biggest music comebacks in history and went onto write her name into the history books.
Death of her sons
When she divorced Ike, sadly that wasn’t the end of her tough times. In 2018 Tina’s oldest son Craig died due to suicide.
She did say that she thought her son was happy before his death but she was left heartbroken by his shock death.
Then, in 2022 , Tina lost a second son when Ronnie passed away in December aged just 62.
Illness
In her final years Tina battled with her health and she suffered a stroke not long after she married German music executive, Erwin Bach.
As a result of the stroke Tina lost her ability to walk and had to work hard to get that back.
After the stroke, she found out that she had intestinal cancer which then led to kidney failure and she was given a kidney by her husband Erwin.
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