Tina Turner, ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, dies aged 83 in Switzerland
Tina Turner – one of rock’s great vocalists and most charismatic performers – has died aged 83.
Her spokesperson said: “Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland.
“With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”
‘The world loses a music legend and a role model’ – latest tributes | Live updates
The US-born star was one of rock’s iconic singers, known for her electric stage presence and hits including The Best, Proud Mary, Private Dancer and What’s Love Got to Do With It.
Among the first to pay tribute were Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Elton John, Diana Ross, Bette Midler and Giorgio Armani.
“She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer,” said Rolling Stones frontman Jagger.
“She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”
Sir Elton posted a picture of himself with Turner and said she was “untouchable” and a “total legend on record and on stage”.
Turner previously had intestinal cancer and a stroke, revealing in 2018 that her husband had donated a kidney to save her life as she contemplated assisted suicide.
Turner’s stage presence and dance moves were legendary
Ike And Tina Turner With The Ikettes in 1976. Pic:AP
Turner found fame in the 1960s alongside ex-husband Ike Turner, with the classics River Deep, Mountain High and Nutbush City Limits among their hits.
The domestic abuse Ike subjected her to – and her struggle to break free – was documented in a 1993 film starring Angela Bassett, which won three Oscars.
Turner’s life story was also immortalised in a popular West End show that is still running.
Turner lived in Switzerland with her husband. Pic: AP
The singer’s popularity waned by the end of the 1970s and her days in the limelight appeared over, with Turner mainly playing the cabaret circuit as a heritage act.
However, her career was dramatically resurrected in 1983 when a cover of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together became a huge hit.
Turner, then in her forties, signed a new contract with Capitol Records which led to the Private Dancer album in 1984.
It went on to sell more than 10 million copies and established her as a mega-star.
Turner sang the theme to 1995 Bond film Goldeneye (pictured at the UK premiere)
At a concert in Cologne, Germany in 2009. Pic: AP
The title track from Private Dancer, as well as What’s Love Got to Do With It, and I Can’t Stand the Rain were among the album’s seven singles.
Her most well-known song – with its distinctive intro, steady build and powerful chorus – is probably The Best.
Released in 1989, part of the Foreign Affair album, it’s actually a cover of a song by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler.
Proud Mary is also an established classic, with Turner performing up-tempo dance moves to its “rolling down the river” refrain well into her seventies at live shows.
Off the back of her comeback, there was also a foray into film alongside Mel Gibson in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
The movie spawned another hit, We Don’t Need Another Hero.
Born Annie Anna Bullock in a segregated Tennessee hospital in November 1939, Turner became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.
Read more:
Simply The Best: Tina Turner in pictures
Turner pictured with her husband Erwin Bach in Zurich, Switzerland
She lived on a sprawling estate on Lake Zurich with her husband and former EMI record executive, Erwin Bach, some 16 years her junior.
The couple met in 1985, with Turner once telling Oprah Winfrey it was love at first sight when he was sent to pick her up from an airport in Germany.
“He had the prettiest face. You could not miss it,” she said.
“It was like saying, ‘Where did he come from?’ He was really that good looking. My heart went bu-bum. It means that a soul has met. My hands were shaking.”
One of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers broke down in tears and swore on the witness stand as a sexual abuse trial continues.
Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault
Miriam Haley claims the former Hollywood mogul forced oral sex on her in July 2006.
The case is being retried after the appeals court overturned his conviction last year.
She was working as a production assistant at the time.
Weinstein has strenuously denied all allegations, and Ms Haley also testified at Weinstein’s initial trial.
Miriam Haley. AP file pic
Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday as he appeared for his retrial. Pic: AP
The 48-year-old was testifying in a Manhattan court when Weinstein’s defence lawyer Jennifer Bonjean questioned her account of the incident.
In court, Ms Bonjean asked why Ms Haley would agree to Weinstein’s invitation to his apartment after testifying about his previous behaviour, including her alleging that he barged into her home.
Ms Haley then became emotional after being asked how her clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly pulled out a tampon and performed oral sex on her.
She said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn’t recall the details, before Ms Bonjean asked: “You removed your clothes, right?”
Read more:
Harvey Weinstein retrial: ‘He had all the power’
Weinstein accuser felt ‘the unthinkable was happening’ during alleged assault
Ms Haley then told jurors that Weinstein “was the one who raped me, not the other way around” – to which his lawyer said: “That is for the jury to decide.”
She then started crying and said: “No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me.”
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reported that Ms Haley said during the exchange: “Don’t tell me I wasn’t raped by that f*****g asshole.”
Judge Curtis Farber then halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Ms Haley’s eyes were red and her face was glistening as she left the witness stand.
In February 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting Ms Haley – along with raping former actor Jessica Mann in a New York hotel in 2013 – and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
His conviction for the two crimes was overturned in April after an appeals court ruled the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.
After the appeal ruling, Weinstein was charged with raping one woman and forcing oral sex on two others.
Two of the charges are those he faced during the original trial, while the third – one of the charges of forcing oral sex on Kaja Sokola – was added last year.
Weinstein denies all allegations, and his lawyers argue his accusers had consensual sexual encounters.
Regardless of the outcome of the retrial, he will remain in prison over a 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for a separate count of rape. His lawyers are also appealing this sentence.
Timing’s everything for Donald Trump.
The time for sacking Mike Waltz was, clearly, not before the 100-day milestone – the measure of his performance in office.
The national security adviser had his card marked from the day the ‘Signalgate’ scandal broke.
Trump latest: Waltz ‘leaving White House’ hours after TV appearance
In any other government, at any other time, political expediency would have demanded his immediate sacking.
To have shared sensitive military information on a group chat is a most reckless error of judgement.
Bad enough that the information reached the inbox of a US journalist – who knows who else might have accessed the information in what is a commercially available app? China, Russia? Iran, the very country that backs the Houthi rebels who were under attack?
Initially, Donald Trump defended Waltz as a “good man” who had “learned a lesson”. The president will have known, though, that he’s a man who has fundamentally weakened him.
Waltz’s mistake put the lives of US service personnel at risk and called into question the credibility of his ultimate boss.
The emoji-laden group chat read like the stuff of excited youngsters breathlessly sharing gossip.
It was recklessness over responsibility at the heart of government, and it reflected on the commander-in-chief and his judgement in appointing Waltz in the first place.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Nobody was texting war plans’ – Hegseth
To keep him in post for weeks following the scandal looked like an acceptance, of sorts, and it didn’t look good. If there are questions about the circumstances surrounding Waltz, there are, too, about Trump’s defence secretary, Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth was also part of the Signalgate group chat and more.
Separately, he shared messages on Signal with his wife and brother about military strikes. Both are involved with the Pentagon, but are nowhere near the security clearance typically required to access that kind of detail.
Read more from Sky News:
Musk fury over report Tesla looking for new boss
Harris attacks Trump in biggest speech since election
If Waltz committed a sackable offence, why didn’t Hegseth?
It’s a question that won’t go away.
The answer, I suspect, is that Donald Trump invested considerable political capital in forcing Hegseth into position, in spite of strong opposition.
In a story that acknowledges weakness at the heart of government, Donald Trump has his limits.
The US Treasury has announced it has agreed to establish an American-Ukrainian reconstruction investment fund.
For Ukraine, the economic deal was seen as possibly key to ensuring its access to future US military aid in its war against Russia.
President Trump had previously called for Kyiv to compensate Washington for billions of dollars in assistance to help repel the Kremlin’s forces.
A senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday the US will make “direct financial contributions” to the fund and “may also provide new assistance” such as air defence systems for Ukraine.
In return the US is set to get preferential access any new deals concerning Ukraine’s mineral resources.
President Trump and President Zelenskyy met before the Pope’s funeral last weekend. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP
Trump latest: Deal shows Trump ‘committed to free Ukraine’
The US Treasury said “in recognition of the significant financial and material support” the US has provided to the “defence of Ukraine… this economic partnership positions our two countries to work collaboratively and invest together to… accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery”.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”
He also said “this partnership allows the US to invest alongside Ukraine, to unlock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobilise American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery”.
Donald Trump indicated in February he wanted access to Ukraine’s rare earth materials, describing it as reimbursement for the billions of dollars in aid the US has given to Kyiv.
But talks stalled after a heated Oval Office meeting between him and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and reaching an agreement since then has proven difficult amid strained relations between Washington and Kyiv.
Why is US interested in Ukraine’s raw materials?
The US is seeking access to over 20 raw materials seen as strategically critical to its interests, including some non-minerals such as oil and natural gas.
Among them are Ukraine’s deposits of titanium, which is used for making aircraft wings and other aerospace manufacturing, and uranium, that is used for nuclear power, medical equipment and weapons.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump and Zelenskyy’s body language analysed
Ukraine also has lithium, graphite and manganese, which are used in electric vehicle batteries.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said she had signed the agreement in Washington DC to create the investment fund.
She wrote on X: “Together with the United States, we are creating the fund that will attract global investment into our country.
“Its implementation allows both countries to expand their economic potential through equal cooperation and investment.
“The United States will contribute to the fund. In addition to direct financial contributions, it may also provide new assistance – for example air defence systems for Ukraine.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The announcement comes as the Trump administration is pushing to stop the war, which erupted in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin backs calls for a ceasefire before peace negotiations, “but before it’s done, it’s necessary to answer a few questions and sort out a few nuances,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Mr Putin is also ready for direct talks with Ukraine without preconditions to seek a peace deal, he added.
On Monday, the Russian leader declared there would be a three-day ceasefire from 8 May to 10 May.
Mr Zelenskyy wants an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway