Cher has reflected on her long friendship with the late Tina Turner and the last time she saw her good friend.
The singer, 77, who will release her first Christmas album Friday described her final visit to the Queen of Rock before her death in May at age 83 as one filled with laughter.
The Oscar winner had traveled to Switzerland where Tina had lived since 1995.
‘I got to see her. She was lying on the chaise and said, “I’m tired,”‘ she told People.
‘Then for two hours we were running around the house, and she was laughing hysterically,’ she recalled.
Final visit: Cher has opened up about her final visit with pal Tina Turner before the singer’s death in May at age 83. ‘For two hours we were running around the house, and she was laughing hysterically, the 77-year-old artist recalled
‘She just needed to talk and yell,’ she said of the Proud Mary singer who had been battling a series of health problems, including a stroke, intestinal cancer and kidney failure.
‘That’s the Tina that I loved. We had the best time and talked about the old times.’
Cher and Tina came up in the music business about the same time. Both were married to older men, whom they later divorced.
Cher split from her first husband, the late Sonny Bono, in 1975. Tina got away from her husband, the late Ike Turner, in 1978.
Tina had appeared as guest on the Sonny and Cher show in 1972
The two women worked together again when Tina was a guest on Cher’s namesake variety show in 1975, singing Shame, Shame, Shame together.
In a 2008 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the two pals looked back at their first meeting.
‘The first time Tina and I worked together, she came into the studio and I was expecting, you know, Tina Turner,’ the former variety show host explained.
Guest: Tina was a guest artist on the Sonny and Cher Show in 1972 (Pictured with Anthony Newley)
Collaborated: Cher and Tina collaborated again on her 1975 Cher variety show (pictured with singer Kate Smith in April 1975)
‘But she comes in wearing a little silk shirt and trousers and high heels. … Then we started talking, and I have a sailor’s mouth, and Tina is so genteel—she talks like such a lady.’
‘She just kept looking at me, like, “Whoa, where did you come from?” Cher noted of their personality differences.
When thinking about their upcoming performance, the If I Could Turn Back Time artist said, ‘I remember I thought, “I’m going to have to dance with Tina Turner.”‘
‘Do you know what that feels like?’ she asked.
Old times: Cher recalled her last visit with Tina was a happy one. ‘That’s the Tina that I loved. We had the best time and talked about the old times’
Reunited: Cher and Tina caught up backstage at the 2008 Grammy awards. Cher introduced Beyonce, who collaborated with Tina on medley that included Proud Mary (Pictured in Los Angeles in February 2008)
‘It’s like dancing with a hurricane.’
The two collaborated again on Proud Mary in 1999 with Elton John on VH1’s Divas Live, and reunited backstage in 2008 at the Grammy Awards. Cher introduced Beyonce with whom Tina performed a medley that included Proud Mary.
At their last parting, Cher was gifted a memento to remember her friend, a pair of Tina’s high heels.
‘I’m not going to wear them,’ she said. ‘I just have them up in my closet.’
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