“My beloved queen, I love you unendingly,” Beyoncé wrote in a message on her website. “I’m so grateful for your inspiration and all the paths you paved the way.”
“You are strength and resistance,” he continued. “You are the epitome of power and passion. We are all so happy to have seen your kindness and your wonderful spirit that will live on forever. Thank you for everything you have done.”
Her message included a photo of the two shaking hands and taking a bow at the 2008 Grammys, where they performed Turner’s hit “Proud Mary” together.
1 of 52 | See the celebrities who died in 2023 in this gallery →
2 of 52 | Rock and soul singer Tina Turner has died at the age of 83, according to a post on her verified account on May 24. From humble beginnings, Turner overcame an abusive marriage to become one of the most popular artists of all time.
3 of 52 | Ray Stevenson, an actor who starred in the films “RRR” and “Thor,” passed away on Sunday, May 21, his publicist Nicki Fioravante confirmed to CNN. He was 58 years old.
4 of 52 | British writer Martin Amis died on May 19 at the age of 73, according to his publisher Penguin Books UK. Amis’ wife, author Isabel Fonseca, told the New York Times that his cause of death was esophageal cancer. Credit: David Levenson/Getty Images
5 of 52 | Jim Brown, a former Cleveland Browns player and leading civil rights activist, died May 19 at the age of 87, the team said. Check out the other celebrities who died in 2023 in the gallery.
6 of 52 | Andy Rourke, bassist for legendary English rock band The Smiths, died on May 19 at the age of 59 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Image credit: Damien Maguire/Shutterstock)
7 of 52 | Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian singer-songwriter, died May 1 at the age of 84, his spokeswoman, Victoria Lord, told CNN.
8 of 52 | Jerry Springer, a former mayor of Cincinnati and longtime television host, has died at the age of 79, his representative Bradley Singer reported Thursday, April 27. (Credit: Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Corbis Entertainment/Getty Images)
9 of 52 | Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and activist who became a vital supporter of the civil rights movement, died Tuesday, April 25, at the age of 96, his publicist Ken Sunshine told CNN. Belafonte died of heart failure. (Credit: Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
10 of 52 | Former Dancing With the Stars judge Len Goodman died on Saturday April 22 at the age of 78. The English dance expert died in a hospital in Kent, southern England, after a battle with bone cancer. (Credit: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)
11 of 52 | Australian comedian Barry Humphries, best known for his drag character Dame Edna Everage, died on Saturday April 22 at the age of 89. A few days earlier, on Wednesday, the artist had been hospitalized again with complications after hip surgery last month. (Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
12 of 52 | K-pop star Moon Bin, a member of the band Astro, died on Wednesday, April 19, at the age of 25, his music label Fantagio reported. His representative said he found the artist dead at his home in southern Seoul, South Korea. (Source: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
13 of 52 | Julián Figueroa, son of actress Maribel Guardia and singer Joan Sebastian, has died at the age of 28, the National Association of Interpreters of Mexico said on Monday, April 10. (Source: Maribel Guardia/Instagram)
14 of 52 | Andrés García, an actor of Dominican descent known in Mexico, died on April 4, 2024 at the age of 81, confirmed Margarita Portillo, the artist’s wife. Garcia was known for an extensive career in film and television and notable roles as a leading man in Mexican soap operas.
15 of 52 | World-famous Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto has died at the age of 71 from complications from cancer. His death occurred on March 28, 2023 and was confirmed by the company representing him on April 2.
16 of 52 | María Kodama, writer, translator, widow and executor of the will of the renowned author Jorge Luis Borges, died on Sunday March 26 at the age of 86 in the Argentine city of Vicente López.
17 of 52 | Actor, comedian and producer Xavier López Rodríguez, popularly known as “Chabelo”, died on March 25 at the age of 88, according to his official Twitter account.
18 of 52 | Mexican actress Rebecca Jones died on March 22 at the age of 65. According to the agency that represented her, she died accompanied by her family (Source: Instagram/La_rebeccajones)
19 of 52 | Willis Reed, NBA star and New York Knicks hero, died on March 21, 2023 at the age of 80.
20 of 52 | Lance Reddick, an actor best known for his portrayal of Cedric Daniels on The Wire and for his work on the John Wick series, died on Friday, March 17, his representative Mia Hansen said. He was 60 years old.
21 of 52 | Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso died on March 11 at the age of 98, the National Association of Interpreters of Mexico (ANDI) reported on its Twitter account. Credit: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images
22 of 52 | Robert Blake, actor of “In Cold Blood” and “Lost Highway”, died on March 9, 2023 at the age of 89, according to his daughter Delinah Blake. (Credit: Brian To/FilmMagic/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
23 of 52 | Gary Rossington, guitarist for American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away on Sunday, March 5, his band said in a statement on Facebook. Credit: Amy Harris/Invision/Amy Harris/AP/File
24 of 52 | Tom Sizemore, an actor best known for his work in hit films like Saving Private Ryan, Natural Born Killers and Heat, died March 3, his rep Charles Lago confirmed to CNN. He was 61 years old.
25 of 52 | Irma Serrano “La Tigresa”, popular Mexican ranchera and corrido singer and actress, died on March 1 at the age of 89.
26 of 52 | French soccer player Just Fontaine – who still holds the record for most goals in a single World Cup – has died aged 89.
27 of 52 | Richard Belzer, the comedian and actor best known for his role as acid detective John Munch on several NBC crime shows including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, died Feb. 19 at the age of 78, his said Representative.
28 of 52 | Actress Stella Stevens, a Hollywood star of the 1960s and 1970s, has died at the age of 84. Her son said she had been through a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
29 of 52 | Fantastic Voyage star Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82, her rep confirmed on February 15. (Credit: Rich Fury/Getty Images for Pantelion Films)
30 of 52 | Carlos Saura died in Madrid on February 10 at the age of 91. The Spanish filmmaker, photographer and screenwriter is the author of works such as “La caza”, “Cría Cuervos”, “Carmen” or “Shoot, Shoot”
31 of 52 | Burt Bacharach died on February 9th at the age of 94. He is the author of classic pop hits like “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”.
32 of 52 | Melinda Dillon, an Oscar nominee who starred in films including A Christmas Carol and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, has died at the age of 83, according to an obituary released by a cremation service in Long Beach, California .
33 of 52 | Legendary Spanish designer Paco Rabanne died on February 3 at the age of 88. Born in Spain, Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo founded his eponymous fashion house in 1966 and has garnered both acclaim and controversy with his bold creations.
34 of 52 | Lisa Loring, best known for being the first actress to play Wednesday (Merlina) Addams in the original comedy The Addams Family, died on Saturday, January 28, at the age of 64, her daughter has confirmed.
35 of 52 | Actress Annie Wersching died of cancer Jan. 29, her publicist Craig Schneider told CNN. She was 45 years old and was recognized for her work on the series 24 and as the voice of Tess on The Last of Us.
36 of 52 | Tom Verlaine, a founding member of the influential punk band New York Television, died on January 28 at the age of 73 “after a short illness,” reported Jesse Paris Smith.
37 of 52 | Mexican comedian Leopoldo Roberto García Peláez Benítez, known as “Polo Polo,” died on January 23, his family announced.
38 of 52 | David Crosby, legendary singer-songwriter and one of the founding members of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has died at the age of 81, his family announced on January 19, 2023.
39 of 52 | Actress Gina Lollobrigida, legend of Italian cinema, died on January 16, 2023 at the age of 95. Lollobrigida starred in Bread, Love and Dreams, The Wayward Woman and Woman from Rome. Along with Sophia Loren, she became a symbol of Italian actresses of the 1950s and 1960s. (Source: ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)
40 of 52 | Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, died on January 12 after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 54 and his death was confirmed by his mother, Priscilla Presley, in a statement.
41 of 52 | Tatjana Patitz, who rose to fame in the fashion world in the 1990s as an animal-loving supermodel with piercing eyes, died of cancer on Wednesday January 11th. He was 56 years old. (Credit: Arthur Elgort/Conde Nast/Shutterstock)
42 of 52 | Long remembered actress and Broadway star Carole Cook has died, her agent Robert Malcolm said in a statement. He was 98 years old.
43 of 52 | According to a statement released on his official social media accounts, Jeff Beck, the legendary rock guitarist, died in January 2023. He was 78 years old.
44 of 52 | Cardinal George Pell, the senior Catholic official convicted of child sex abuse before his acquittal in 2020, died Jan. 10 at the age of 81.
45 of 52 | Constantine II, the last king of Greece, died on January 10 at the age of 82.
46 of 52 | Adam Rich, an actor who rose to fame as a child as the youngest member of the Bradford family, Nicholas, on the television series “Eight Is Enough,” died Jan. 8 at the age of 54, according to the county coroner’s angel.
47 of 52 | Italian soccer star Gianluca Vialli died on January 6 at the age of 58 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Credit: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
48 of 52 | Marcio Freire, the legendary Brazilian surfer (seen in this photo at right wearing a white necklace), died on huge waves in Nazaré, Portugal on January 5. Aid personnel on jet skis managed to get the 47-year-old to the beach, but all attempts to revive him failed. Freire was one of three Brazilian surfers who – as per the 2016 documentary – became known as “Mad Dogs” after catching the giant wave “Jaws” in Hawaii. (Source: Getty Images)
49 of 52 | Walter Cunningham, a retired NASA astronaut who piloted the first flight in the space agency’s famed Apollo program, died on January 3. He was 90 years old. This photo shows Cunningham aboard Apollo 7 in October 1968. (Source: NASA)
50 of 52 | Professional rally driver and YouTube star Ken Block died in a snowmobile accident on January 2nd. He was 55 years old. Before starting his rallying career, Block co-founded the sportswear company DC Shoes in 1994, which became one of the most recognized skatewear brands in the world. (Paulo Oliveira/DPI/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
51 of 52 | Fred White, drummer for classic 1970s band Earth, Wind & Fire, died on January 2, according to an Instagram post by his older brother and former bandmate Verdine White. He was 67 years old. With the band, White has won six Grammy Awards and been nominated a total of 13 times. In 2000, Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (Credit: Rob Verhorst/Redferns/Getty Images)
52 of 52 | Art McNally, the “father of instant replay” and the first game official to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died January 1 at the age of 97.
Beyoncé had two bathtubs in her life.
Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mom, posted a video on Instagram Wednesday of her daughter meeting Turner, her musical inspiration, to rehearse that performance at the Grammys. Knowles wrote in the caption: “I remember this day like it was yesterday. It was the day Beyoncé was going to rehearse with Tina Turner for the Grammys.”
“We were both so excited and when she arrived and was told she was in the next room, we all saw Beyoncé, now five years old, jump up to hug her,” Knowles wrote. “I was the biggest fan and had my own story when I met Tina in 1980. Beyoncé always spoke about the two Tinas she loved and admired.”
Turner died on May 24 at his home in Küsnacht near Zurich (Switzerland) after a long illness. He was 83 years old.
Beyoncé spoke openly about how Turner paved the way for her.
In 2005, a younger Beyoncé took the stage at the Kennedy Center Honors to honor Turner.
“Occasionally, when I think of inspiration, I think of the two Tina’s in my life: my mother, Tina, and of course, the amazing Tina Turner,” Beyoncé said. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw her perform. Never in my life have I seen such a powerful, so fearless, so fabulous woman. And those legs.”
Beyoncé then got the audience on their feet in honor of Turner before beginning a spirited rendition of “Proud Mary.” Turner laughed, smiled and danced with Beyoncé.
In her memoir, Knowles wrote this week that Turner was “pretty” and “larger than life” at the Kennedy Center Honors, but said that dueting with her daughter at the 50th Grammys three years later was “different.”
“She really could perform alongside Tina Turner!” Knowles wrote in the caption. They laughed a lot back then and it’s one of Beyoncé’s fondest memories.
“It was so shocking…I felt like a little girl,” Beyoncé said of Turner’s Grammy rehearsal during an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show at the time. “I basically told him how much he means to me and that this is literally a dream for me.”
Knowles remembered that moment as Turner’s finest: full of life and full of devotion to the audience at the then lithe age of 68.
“The world is no better place without this legendary and amazing, resilient woman,” Knowles said in her message.
“When I need to gather my superpowers and know I can overcome anything, I think of Tina Turner, who started fresh in her 40s and became the greatest superstar of all time,” Knowles wrote. “It always gives me hope that it’s not about age, it’s about the person. Today I celebrate this amazing, beautiful, resilient Queen who will be sorely missed. She was ‘just the best’.”