Tina Turner: The trauma and triumph of a music legend
“Look what I have done in this lifetime, with this body,” said Tina Turner, in a documentary released about her life in 2021. “I’m a girl from a cotton field, that pulled myself above what was not taught to me.”
Tina Turner‘s life was a story of trauma and triumph – she was the star known for her energetic stage performances and her incomparable soulful, husky voice, who overcame several personal and professional struggles to become the Queen of Rock ‘n Roll.
Following her death at the age of 83, tributes have been paid to a “legend”, an “icon” and a “remarkable force of nature,” from fellow music stars to the White House, with clips of her biggest hits – including Proud Mary, Nutbush City Limits, The Best, We Don’t Need Another Hero, and What’s Love Got To Do With It – flooding social media.
‘The world loses a legend’ – tributes to Tina Turner
Throughout her career, Turner won a total of 12 Grammys and was a two-time inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, as a solo artist and as part of the duo she formed with ex-husband, Ike Turner, in the 1960s.
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Tina Turner sings The Best
She was the first woman to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone and a record breaker – previously holding the Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience for a solo performer, attracting an audience of 180,000 for her show at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1988.
And she also inspired an award-winning musical based on her incredible life – the story of the star who achieved stratospheric success, including sales of more than 100 million records worldwide, after overcoming years of abuse from both her father and ex-husband, and pushback from those who told her she could not make it as a solo star.
Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, on 26 November 1939, to parents Zelma Priscilla and Floyd Richard Bullock. At the age of 11, she moved to live with her grandmother after her mother left her abusive relationship with her father.
Tina with her abusive ex-husband and musical partner Ike Turner in 1966. Pic: AP
Aged 16, she joined her mother and sister Alline in the city of St Louis in Missouri, which is where she encountered her future husband for the first time.
She soon joined his band The Kings Of Rhythm as its first female member – and when she reimagined herself as Tina Turner in 1960, the group reformed to become the Ike And Tina Turner Revue.
That same year, Turner gave birth to their first child Ronnie and the couple wed in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1962. Ronnie was her second child; her first, Craig Raymond Turner, was with the saxophonist for the Kings Of Rhythm, Raymond Hill.
Turner’s famous legs were reportedly insured for millions. Pic: AP
The group produced a string of RnB hits, including A Fool In Love and It’s Gonna Work Out Fine, but it was the release of River Deep – Mountain High in 1966 that saw their popularity soar around the world. The release was followed by a UK tour with The Rolling Stones as the band’s support act.
Songs such as Come Together, Honky Tonk Woman and Proud Mary helped cement their status, with the latter winning them a Grammy in 1972.
But behind the scenes, Turner was enduring abuse at the hands of her husband.
She stayed with him until 1976, but later revealed she had attempted suicide during their relationship. “I simply couldn’t take any more,” she wrote in her 2018 memoir, of the moment she hit rock bottom.
Flowers were left on her Hollywood Walk of Fame star following news of her death
During their divorce, she reportedly asked for nothing more than the right to keep the use of her stage name, and she went on to reinvent herself as a solo star.
It wasn’t easy, with a slow start for debut album Tina Turns The Country On! in 1974, followed by Acid Queen in 1975, but Turner pushed back against those who told her that, as a black woman approaching 40, she would never make the transition to rock.
Read more:
Simply The Best: Tina Turner in pictures
Throughout the 1980s, she rebuilt her career, with a string of hits starting in 1983 with a cover of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together, and the 1984 release of her album Private Dancer. Her most recognisable song, a cover of The Best, was released in 1989. By then, her image of big hair and mini-skirts had become iconic, her famous legs becoming almost as famous as her distinctive voice.
In 1986, Turner was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Her first induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, for her work with Ike, came in 1991, though neither attended the ceremony. Her induction as a solo artist came some 30 years later, in 2021.
“If they’re still giving me awards at 81, I must have done something right,” she said in a recorded acceptance speech.
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Turner on recognition and achievements
She was inducted by Angela Bassett, the actress who portrayed Turner in the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It. Both Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, who played Ike, were nominated for Oscars for their performances.
“Imagine, a black girl from Nutbush, Tennessee, who embodied more talent than her small town could have ever dreamed,” Bassett said at the Hall Of Fame ceremony. “Imagine that same girl breaking through every barrier to one day make history.
“People still tell me how much Tina has meant to them. I know exactly what they mean, because she has meant that much and more to me. I too am one of those people blessed by Tina’s remarkable gift to inspire.”
In the 1990s, Turner joined the list of Bond musicians, voicing the title song for Pierce Brosnan’s Goldeneye.
Sir Mick Jagger and Turner at a Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame performance in 1989
After a brief break from showbusiness, she returned to the limelight in 2008 at the Grammy Awards, where she performed Proud Mary alongside Beyonce. Other notable duets through her career included performing with David Bowie, and with The Rolling Stones during Live Aid in 1985.
In 2008, she embarked on her 50th-anniversary tour, and in 2016 she announced Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.
In 2021, she sold the rights to her back catalogue after reaching an agreement with BMG for an undisclosed sum, and the last of her 34 UK Top 40 hits was released in 2020, when she re-recorded What’s Love Got To Do With It with Norwegian DJ Kygo.
Turner and her husband at the opening night of the Tina musical in April 2018
Turner’s solo works include 10 studio albums, two live albums, two soundtracks and five compilations, which together have sold more than 100 million records. As well as her music, Turner also starred in films including Tommy in 1975, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, and Last Action Hero in 1993.
In her personal life, she met music producer Erwin Bach in the 1980s and the pair married years later on the banks of Lake Zurich in Switzerland, where they lived. In 2013, Bach saved her life by donating her one of his kidneys, she revealed in her memoir in 2018.
She faced heartache that year, when her eldest son Craig died by suicide, and again in 2022 when her second son Ronnie died of cancer.
Pic: AP
Known for her strength and resilience throughout her life, in an interview with the New York Times in 2019, she said: “I don’t necessarily want to be a ‘strong’ person. I had a terrible life. I just kept going.”
Turner always kept going.
And in what must have been one of her last interviews before she died, she told The Guardian exactly how she wanted to be remembered – as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. “A woman who showed other women that it is okay to strive for success on their own terms.”
One of the alleged gunmen in the killing of 15 people on Bondi Beach has been charged.
Naveed Akram, 24, faces 59 counts, including 15 of murder and a terror charge.
The other alleged attacker, his 50-year-old father Sajid, died at the scene in Sydney.
The charges came as people gathered for funerals three days after Sunday’s terror attack shocked Australia and intensified concerns about rising antisemitism.
Some 22 victims remain in hospital following the shooting, carried out at an event marking the start of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.
People look at flowers laid out for the victims. Pic: Reuters
At the first of the funerals, relatives mourned the death of British-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a 41-year-old father of five, who organised the Chanukah by the Sea event.
Often speaking through tears, his father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, expressed his “biggest regret” that he “could have done more” to tell him “how much we love him”.
“I hope he knew that. I’m sure he knew it,” he added. “But I think it should’ve been said more often.”
Relatives of Rabbi Eli Schlanger next to his coffin during his funeral. Pic: Reuters
The father of 10-year-old victim Matilda, whose surname has been withheld at her family’s request, spoke at a vigil on Tuesday night.
Local media reported him as saying: “We came here from Ukraine… and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist.
“So just remember the name, remember her.”
A photo of Matilda. Pic: Reuters
Read more: Who were the suspected gunmen?
Police have said the two alleged gunmen – who were shot by officers – were motivated by Islamic State ideology.
A recent trip to the Philippines is under investigation. The older Akram used an Indian passport to travel, while his son used an Australian one.
The Akrams stayed at the GV Hotel in Davao from 1 November to 28 November, according to a source, who said police had visited on Wednesday.
The pair are said to have only left their rooms for meals and no one was seen visiting them.
Davao is in an area associated with Islamic extremism but a spokesman for the president of the Philippines said he rejected the claim the country is an “ISIS training hotspot”.
New South Wales to debate gun reforms
The Australian government and intelligence services have come under pressure because the alleged attackers were legally able to acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to toughen the country’s gun laws after its deadliest mass shooting in three decades, and the state parliament in New South Wales will reconvene next week to discuss reforms.
They include capping the number of guns allowed by a single person and making some shotguns harder to access.
State premier Chris Minns told a news conference: “We’ve got a monumental task in front of us. It’s huge.
“It’s a huge responsibility to pull the community together.
“We need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division.”
Mr Albanese has vowed to work with the Jewish community to “stamp out and eradicate antisemitism”. The prime minister has been accused of not doing enough to prevent its spread since the war in Gaza began two years ago.
Fellow world leaders have expressed their shock and anguish since the attack, including British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who hosted a Hanukkah event at Downing Street on Tuesday.
And speaking at the White House last night, US President Donald Trump said: “We join in mourning all of those who were killed, and we’re praying for the swift recovery of the wounded.”
A South African man, with eyes darkened by sleepless nights, tells us his older brother was lured into fighting for Russia on the frontline in Ukraine’s raging Donbas region.
“To them, it’s a suicide mission because they have never been trained for the military. They don’t have military training – they don’t have military experience,” says Bongani, whose name we have changed for his safety.
In the hidden back garden of a modest hotel in KwaZulu-Natal province, he continues: “They don’t have experience of any war. They are just bodyguards who want to get a job and provide for their families. That’s all.”
Bongani says his brother travelled to Russia on a flight via Dubai after being told he would be receiving bodyguard training along with at least 16 other South African men. After signing a contract in Russian, their fate was sealed.
Bongani, not his real name, tells Yousra his brother was on a ‘suicide mission’
“The problems started when they were moved from Russia to Ukraine, and they asked them: ‘Guys – where are we going now because we are here for training?’
“And then the Russians said: ‘Training for what? We don’t know anything about training – what we know is that you’ve signed the contract. You are under our command now – under the Russian army.'”
How is this happening?
Sky News has seen harrowing SOS video messages from South African men who describe entrapment and deployment to the frontline in Ukraine.
In one video, a man in military fatigues details the moment they signed their contracts. He claims Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, encouraged them to sign away their lives.
“We refused to sign the contract forms because it was written in Russia, which we didn’t understand. We asked them for a translator – someone who can translate the language. They said there was no network,” he says in fluent English.
“That is when Duduzile came with a guy by the name of Khosa. She said we must sign the contract because it is the same thing they did. Duduzile said she is doing the same course we are doing, the same training, and that unfortunately she won’t be with us because she is training somewhere else.”
“Yes, we agreed. We did sign the forms because we trust the lady, Duduzile.”
South African men claim they were trafficked by Duduzile Zuma, daughter of the country’s former president – allegations she denies
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is accused of trafficking South African men – including eight of her own relatives – for mercenary recruitment by her half-sister Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, who has filed police charges against her.
She denies the allegations and says she was a victim of deception, misrepresentation, and manipulation.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) say they are currently investigating the charges. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has resigned as a member of parliament and has not responded to our request for comment.
Former president Jacob Zuma with his daughter Duduzile Zuma, wearing “I Stand With Russia” T-Shirt in 2023. Pic: @DZumaSambudla/X
Five hours away in Johannesburg’s Gauteng province, we watched as another case of suspected mercenary recruitment played out in a South African magistrate’s court.
Five suspects were ushered out into a crowded courtroom in Kempton Park after being arrested on their way out of Johannesburg’s Oliver R Tambo airport following a tip-off to the police that they were allegedly travelling to Russia via the United Arab Emirates.
Five people suspected of attempting to join Russia’s war effort in Ukraine appear in a Johannesburg court
Among the five suspects is Patricia Mantuala, 39, suspected of recruiting the men
The line-up is sullen as the three young men on one end of the stand look down at their hands. The youngest is only 21 years old.
At the other end of the stand is a 39-year-old woman called Patricia Mantuala, who stands accused of recruiting them. The five suspects were eventually granted bail by the court after a postponed hearing.
Read more from Sky News:
G20 overshadowed by Ukraine
Alleged mercenary arrested in London
Is time running out for Ukraine?
Colonel Katlego Mogale, a spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the HAWKS, told Sky News and other journalists in a news conference that they are not ruling out the possibility that more suspects will be arrested.
South Africa’s specialised police unit is investigating a growing recruitment drive
Amid signs of a growing recruitment drive, the families of those who say they are trapped fighting for Russia in Ukraine are advocating for their loved ones to return home – against all odds.
“You are dealing with people who are well known in South Africa and in South Africa nobody’s safe and we may never know what’s going to happen next to us,” says Bongani.
“What’s going to happen to our family?”
World
Imran Khan’s sons ‘fear they may never see him again’ as former Pakistan PM ‘held in death cell’
The sons of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan have said they fear they might never see their father again as he is being “psychologically tortured” in a “death cell”.
Speaking to Sky News’ The World with Yalda Hakim, Kasim and Sulaiman Khan said they had not spoken to their father, who has been in prison since August 2023, for months.
Imran Khan’s sons being interviewed by Yalda Hakim
Kasim described the conditions the former Pakistani leader has been kept, saying: “He’s been in a solitary confinement cell for over two years where he’s had filthy water, he is around inmates who are dying of hepatitis, the conditions are disgusting and also he is completely isolated from any human contact.”
He continued: “It’s getting harder to see a route out at this point. We’re trying to have faith. But at the same time, right now, the conditions are getting worse.
“It’s very hard to see a way out… We’re now worried we might never see him again.”
Kasim said his father was being subjected to “psychological torture tactics” as even the prison guards weren’t allowed to communicate with the former Pakistani leader, who led the country between 2018 and 2022.
Imran Khan, pictured in March 2023 before his arrest on corruption charges. File pic: Reuters
Sulaiman said his father’s cell, where he allegedly spends 23 hours a day, has been described as a “death cell”.
He said an army spokesperson announced on Friday that Imran Khan, who has in the past been shot three times, was now officially in full isolation.
He added that Imran Khan was being kept in “completely substandard conditions that don’t meet international law for any sort of prisoner”.
The brothers’ words echo what one of Khan’s sisters reported after being allowed to meet the former cricketer in prison at the start of the month.
Uzma Khanum said at the time that Khan was facing isolation and psychological strain in prison following weeks in which his family said access had been blocked.
The former leader was jailed after being convicted in a string of cases that he says were politically driven following his ousting in a 2022 parliamentary vote.
Before launching his political career, Imran Khan was best known as a star of international cricket and for leading Pakistan to Cricket World Cup victory in 1992.
Kasim said his father would “never take a deal and leave all of his other party members in jail to die and fester in these jails…
“Instead he stays in those conditions, happy to rot and it means that he can move towards his goal of ridding Pakistan of corruption, a goal that he has stated to us a million times.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, a Pakistani government spokesperson, will be speaking to Yalda Hakim tonight on Sky News from 9pm.
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