Tina Turner, a life of tragedy – Credits: @instagram @tinaturner
Tina Turner died at the age of 83. Possessing an alluring beauty, a husky and hypnotic voice, and the versatility to move from pop to rock to soul to R&B, the artist has had a successful career but also a life marred by tragedy. “The list is long: an unhappy childhood, abandonment, an abusive marriage, a stagnant career, financial ruin, the untimely death of my family members, and multiple illnesses,” she counted herself in the introduction to Happiness is Born in You, book two. From success and fame to the horrific departure of her children, we tell you about the most painful moments of an artist who has been at the forefront of the industry and left an important musical legacy.
an early task
TINA, documentary about Tina Turner, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival
In Tina, the HBO documentary the platform released in 2021, the artist opened her heart and took an intimate portrait of how she overcame the adversities of her early childhood. There he told, among other things, about the abandonment of his mother, from which he already suffered at the age of 11.
Turner had previously opened up about his painful past in his memoir, Happiness Becomes You, which was released in 2020; but this time he added his image and iconic voice to the story. “My mother would sit by the kitchen window on Sundays and prepare food; “One day she was gone and she never came back,” says the artist in the series. When her mother left, Tina was a girl who lived in Tennessee and worked in the fields to survive. “I wanted him to come back for me and I waited but he never did. And it’s okay, do you know why? I am a cotton field girl who has overcome destruction and failure. And I’m here for you,” he concludes. After this episode he suffered another great loss: his cousin Margaret, his close friend, died in a traffic accident.
A hell named Ike
Tina Turner and her husband Ike
In Tina, midway through her life’s journey — from the start of her career in the 1950s to her quiet days in her Swiss villa with her late husband, record producer Erwin Bach — the “The Best” singer, too, set out through allusion the ordeal she endured with her late ex-husband Ike Turner. In addition to being her first love, Ike was also her manager and the one who turned her from Anna Mae Bullock into Tina Turner. He also related it in his memoirs, in which he recounted the beatings he subjected her to for years.
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“Broken lips, black eyes, dislocated joints and mental torture were part of my everyday life,” the singer wrote. He experienced this ordeal in parallel with the pressure he was exposed to as a result of the onset of professional success. “This pressure increased Ike’s insecurity and increased his drug use, which made his violent outbursts more frequent.”
“In 1968 I was so depressed and despondent that I couldn’t think straight. “One night, before I was about to go on stage, I tried to commit suicide by taking 50 sleeping pills,” continues the chilling story of the untold life behind the star. At that moment, one of the worst, Tina found herself in Buddhism and decided not to give up. “If there was justice in the universe, one day the long-awaited positivity would come to me,” he shared.
The worst tragedy for a mother
The American singer scattered Craig’s ashes in the sea off the coast of California – Credits: @Instagram
Despite life’s ups and downs, the Acid Queen had the love of her four children, two biological and two adopted: Craig Raymond Turner, the result of his relationship with Raymond Hill and Ronald Renelle Turner, Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner. But here, too, the tragedy reached its climax: In July 2018, Craig was found dead in his apartment. He took his own life by shooting. I was 59 years old. A few weeks after that fateful day, Turner posted a photo to her Instagram account of herself throwing a rose into the sea after scattering her son’s ashes.
“My saddest moment as a mother. On Thursday, July 19, 2018, I said goodbye to my son, Craig Raymond Turner, as I scattered his ashes with my family and friends on the California coast. She was fifty-nine when she tragically died but she will always be my baby,” she wrote alongside the postcard.
On December 8, 2022, another heavy blow shook the woman who revolutionized rock ‘n’ roll: The youngest of her biological children, Ronnie, died of complications from a respiratory illness. Turner also took to Instagram to share her grief with her then-more than 800,000 followers. Along with a black and white photo of herself, the artist wrote: “Ronnie you left this world too soon. With regret I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son. The embassy quickly received thousands of statements of support.