Tina Turner obituary: Star overcame horrific abuse to find joy with kidney donor husband
A portrait of the late singer Tina Turner stands atop her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Los Angeles. Turner died Tuesday at 83 after a long illness. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
When Tina Turner, who has died aged 83, walked out on her abusive husband Ike in Dallas, Texas, she feared it would spell the end of her showbusiness career. It was 1976, and she had been performing with Ike for two decades, since she had first jumped onstage and sang with his band at the Manhattan club in East St Louis, Missouri. Yet, although she was desperate and had only 36 cents in her pocket, she was on her way to a renaissance as one of the most successful performers in popular music during the 1980s and 90s.
She had to endure several lean years, but a turning point came in 1983, when David Bowie told Capitol Records that she was his favourite singer. A version of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together followed. Produced by the electropoppers Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh from Heaven 17, the track went to No 6 in the UK, then cracked the US Top 30 the following year.
