Bouquets of flowers were placed outside the Aldwych Theatre in London this evening where a screening of the Tina Turner Musical was ending – as fans came to terms with her death.
The iconic singer died at her home in Küsnach near Zurich, Switzerland, today at the age of 83 following a long, unspecified illness. Her representatives confirmed her death, saying: ‘With her the world loses a music legend and role model.’
Fans watching the musical in the West End tonight learned of her death during the show’s interval when the cast appeared on stage to break the ‘very emotional’ news to the audience. The company then continued the performance.
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Turner won eight competitive Grammy Awards and was one of the world’s most popular entertainers, known for a core of pop, rock and rhythm and blues favourites.
Her final stadium concert was in Sheffield in 2009. But she has been memorialised by the musical which has run in the West End since 2018 and been performed in theatres across the US. Turner was also a producer on the show.
Londoners are paying tribute to Tina Turner (pictured in 2008) after learning of her death
Bouquets of flowers were placed outside the Aldwych Theatre in London this evening where a screening of the Tina Turner Musical was ending – as fans came to terms with her death
Fans watching the musical in the West End tonight learned of her death during the show’s interval when the cast appeared on stage to break the ‘very emotional’ news to the audience
Two sisters Barbara and Izzy, 65 and 69, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, told MailOnline there were ‘gasps’ from the audience when her death was announced.
They said it was ‘poignant’ and ‘sombre’ but Turner ‘would have wanted the show to go on’ – which is what the cast did ‘brilliantly’.
Tony Ansell, 64, from Northampton, Northamptonshire, laid a bouquet outside the Aldwych in tribute to the late Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll before crowds left the theatre. He said Turner had ‘inspired millions across the UK’.
Both fans and stars alike paid tribute to Turner today following the announcement of her death.
Sir Mick Jagger, who she shared electrifying on-stage chemistry with, Gloria Gaynor, Rick Astley, Paloma Faith and model Naomi Campbell were among the first celebrities to honour the singer.
‘I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer,’ Jagger wrote.
‘She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.’
Giorgio Armani, with whom she was close friends, said: ‘I heard the passing of Tina Turner with sadness and disbelief: with her incredible energy she seemed eternal. Her music certainly is.
‘I will miss a great friend, whom I have also had the pleasure to dress many times. In life, she was like she was on stage – pure energy. I am deeply saddened.’
Tina Turner died at home today at the age of 83 after a long illness. She is shown in 2019 on the opening night of the Tina Turner Musical in New York City
A musical legend: Turner in 1997. In a recent interview, she said she wanted to be remembered as ‘the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’
Turner’s famously turbulent life and relationships were the subject of many adaptations on both stage and screen.
Her autobiography, I, Tina, was turned into the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It, dramatising the mother-of-two’s relationship with Ike Turner and it also saw Angela Bassett nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Tina in the biopic.
Turner wed her long-time German beau, the music executive Erwin Bach, in a Swiss civil ceremony in 2013 and has lived in Switzerland with him since 1994.
It was a second marriage for the music star, who was previously married to musician Ike from 1962 to 1978.
In her 1986 book, the singer narrated a harrowing tale of abuse, including suffering a broken nose during the course of her marriage to Ike.
Ike died in December 2007 and Tina’s spokeswoman at the time was quoted as saying: ‘Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.’
She had suffered ill-health in recent years, being diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and having a kidney transplant in 2017.
In autobiography Tina Turner: My Love Story, published in 2018, she revealed that Bach saved her life by donating one of his kidneys.
Tributes were left outside Turner’s home in Zurich within hours of her death
Tributes were laid on Turner’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Turner with Mick Jagger during the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. It was an iconic performance with palpable chemistry. Turner toured with the Rolling Stones in the late 60s. In her final interview just last month, Turner admitted that she ‘always had a crush’ on him
With Elton John in 1995 at the VH1 Fashion & Music Awards in New York
Turner’s final performance was in 2009 at the end of her 50th Anniversary Tour. She is shown during the multi-city tour in the UK
Her famous track list over the years includes the Bond theme track for 1995’s GoldenEye, with a tune of the same name co-written by Bono and The Edge of U2 fame, and other tracks include We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome), What’s Love Got to Do With It, Private Dancer, Let’s Stay Together and many more.
In 2008 she duetted at the Grammys with Beyonce for a rendition of Proud Mary which featured both the powerful singers, in sparkly outfits, mirroring each other’s choreography.
Other notable duets through her career included performing with David Bowie and in 1985 she took to the stage with Sir Mick and The Rolling Stones during Live Aid.
Last year, Turner said following her son Ronnie’s death at the age of 62 that he ‘left the world far too early’. Her other biological son, Craig Raymond Turner, died aged 59 in 2018.
In 2005 President George W Bush famously described her legs as ‘the most famous in showbusiness’ and it was reported she insured them for hundreds of millions of US dollars.
The musical based on her life, titled Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, opened on London’s West End in 2018.
Her career spanned more than music, with her starring in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome alongside Mel Gibson and she also appeared in 1993’s Last Action Hero.
Turner is survived by her husband, 68-year-old Erwin Bach, and two adult sons
Turner with her first husband, Ike. The pair shot to stardom together in the Ike and Tina Turner Revue
Tina and Ike with their sons in 1972, six years before their divorce
In 2021 she sold the rights to her back catalogue after reaching an agreement with BMG for an undisclosed sum, signing over her share of her recordings, her music publishing writer’s share and her name, image and likeness, the company said.
BMG chief executive Hartwig Masuch paid tribute to Turner following her death, saying: ‘There will only ever be one Tina Turner.
‘Her music and her life’s journey touched so many people. We send our condolences to her dear manager and husband Erwin, and all those who loved her.’
Her solo works include 10 studio albums, two live albums, two soundtracks and five compilations, which together have sold more than 100 million records.
In an interview with The Guardian earlier this year, when asked how she would like to be remembered, she said: ‘As the Queen of Rock’n’Roll. As a woman who showed other women that it is OK to strive for success on their own terms.’
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