Tina Turner, legendary rock ‘n’ roll superstar, dead at 83

Tina Turner died at her home in Switzerland following a long illness, her rep said.

Tina Turner, the American-born “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” died Tuesday at the age of 83.

On Wednesday, a representative for Turner said she died peacefully at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, after a long illness. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.

Turner was best known for her dynamic stage presence, powerful pipes, and long, muscular legs, churning out a run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s with her then-husband, Ike Turner.

Ike Turner discovered her at age 17 when she grabbed the mic to sing at his club show in St. Louis in 1957. He was responsible for her stage name (she was born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939) and the two married in Tijuana, Mexico.

However, her 20-year marriage was also a major source of burden and heartbreak, which left her physically battered, financially ruined and emotionally scarred.

As she recounted in her memoir, I, Tina, Ike began hitting her in the mid-1950s, shortly after they met, and the violence escalated quickly. She said he was quickly provoked by anyone and everything and would take it out on her by choking her, throwing hot coffee in her face, or beating her until she couldn’t open her swollen eyes, before raping her. Before one show, he broke her jaw and she went on stage with her mouth full of blood.

Turner left her husband one night in 1976 on a tour stop in Dallas – with just a credit card and a few cents in her pocket – after he pummeled her during a car ride and she struck back, according to her memoir. Their divorce was finalized in 1978.

However, in the aftermath of the divorce, she channeled her emotional turmoil and sorrow into her career, which sent her skyrocketing to fame in her 40s — a time when many other entertainers’ careers begin to slow down.