“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.
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.
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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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.”
Prince Harry has answered questions about a prank voicemail left by his brother William, a visit to a strip club, and his break-up with Chelsy Davy, in his second day giving evidence at the High Court.
Harrywas also asked if he would be “disappointed” should the court not find in his favour and decide details about his private life were not obtained by phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) journalists.
The Duke of Sussex said he would be “speculating”, but when pushed further he replied to say he would “feel some injustice”.
Harry told the court: “I believe that phone hacking was [done] on an industrial scale across at least three of the papers at the time… that is beyond any doubt.
“To have a decision against me and any of the other people [bringing a claim], given that Mirror Group have admitted hacking [in relation to other cases], yes it would feel like an injustice… if it wasn’t accepted.”
Andrew Green KC, representing MGN, then asked the duke: “So you want to have been phone hacked?”.
“Nobody wants to be phone hacked,” he replied.
In 2014, MGN admitted liability in four cases of phone hacking, and since then has settled dozens of claims, with stars including Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller. The publisher denies the allegations made by Harry.
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Image: Prince Harry is being questioned by MGN’s barrister Andrew Green
Harry arrived outside the court’s Rolls Building in central London in a black Range Rover shortly before 10am, wearing a dark suit and silver tie, before entering the witness box again after nearly five hours of cross-examination on Tuesday.
His witness statement has also been released, containing the full details of all his allegations against MGN, publisher of the Daily Mirror and other titles – a lawsuit that makes him the first senior royal to give evidence in a UK court in more in than 100 years.
After resuming his questioning this morning, Mr Green asked Harry about an article headlined “Chel Shocked”, published in the People in 2006, which reports how his then girlfriend Ms Davy was angry about the royal allegedly receiving a lap dance during a night out with cadet friends.
In his witness statement, Harry said he does not remember Ms Davy being mad at him. “We did speak about it over the phone, but I promised her that I hadn’t had a lap dance and stayed with the three other cadets that had girlfriends,” he wrote.
Speaking in court, Harry said parts of the article were “factually incorrect” – including a reference to a “tall statuesque blonde” who bore a “striking resemblance” to Ms Davy.
Image: Harry’s former girlfriend Chelsea Davy pictured in 2011
Mr Green put it to Harry that many MGN stories included as part of his case contained information that was already available elsewhere, including in articles by rival news outlets.
One story published by the now defunct News Of The World at the time contained details of a voicemail left by Prince William to Harry, mimicking Ms Davy’s “high-pitched” accent, the barrister told the court – saying this was an “important step” to police arresting Clive Goodman, the then royal editor at the News Of The World, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, over royal phone hacking.
Harry said he was aware of this.
Mr Green also asked about an article headlined “Hooray Harry’s dumped” – which the duke said was “hurtful to say the least” and that “such a private moment was turned into a bit of a laugh”.
The barrister said the “Hooray” name had been used to describe the royal in previous stories and “was not celebrating the demise of your relationship.”
Pop star appears outside Harry court case
Before today’s evidence began, former East 17 star Brian Harvey turned up outside court, shouting about corruption.
He told Sky News that he too was a victim of phone hacking, and that the media is “a joke”.
Image: Brian Harvey outside court – we have blurred this image as it contains information Sky News cannot verify
During his first day in court, Harry criticised Piers Morgan, and said in his witness statement that he felt “physically sick” at the thought of the former Mirror editor and his “band of journalists” allegedly “earwigging” on his mother Princess Diana‘s messages.
Morgan later told Sky News he did not see any of Harry’s comments, but added: “I wish him luck with his privacy campaign and look forward to reading about it in his next book.”
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Piers Morgan reacts to Harry’s claims
As part of our special programmes on the case, Sky News is transcribing Harry’s evidence and recreating his court appearance with an actor.
The royal is suing MGN, attempting to prove that reporters for the Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People titles were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators, between 1996 and 2010.
He claims about 140 articles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial.
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Harry’s ‘distress’ at press coverage
MGN is contesting the claims and has either denied or not admitted each of them. The publisher also argues that some of the claimants have brought their legal action too late.
As well as Harry, there are three other representative claimants involved in the case: Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, who is best known for playing Kevin Webster; Hollyoaks and former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson; and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.
They are representative of more than 100 claimants overall, including singer and TV star Cheryl, ex-footballer and pundit Ian Wright, and the estate of the late George Michael.
Harry In Court – watch special programme on Sky News tonight at 9pm
Piers Morgan has hit back at Prince Harry after receiving fierce criticism from the royal during his phone hacking trial.
The Duke of Sussex said the thought of the former editor of the Daily Mirror and his “band of journalists” earwigging on his mother’s messages “makes me feel physically sick”.
Morgan told Sky News he didn’t see any of Harry’s comments, but added: “I wish him luck with his privacy campaign and look forward to reading about it in his next book.”
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Harry in court: A reconstruction
Prince Harry‘s comments were written on page 12 of his 55-page witness statement, which claims that 33 articles written by papers owned by the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) involved unlawful information gathering by the publisher, including phone hacking.
The Duke of Sussex wrote: “The thought of Piers Morgan and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages (in the same way as they have me) and then having given her a ‘nightmare time’ three months prior to her death in Paris, makes me feel physically sick and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr Morgan, accountable for their vile and entirely unjustified behaviour.”
Image: Prince Harry arrives at the High Court
Yesterday, the High Court heard of allegations that Princess Diana’s phone was hacked by the paper when it was under Morgan’s supervision from 1995 to 2004.
Prince Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, read aloud details of letters she wrote to comedian Michael Barrymore that revealed the pair had secret meetings, and that the Princess was supporting Barrymore who was “struggling with coming out as gay”.
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2:28
Analysing Harry’s statement
He said that in Morgan’s book, The Insider, he refers to “rumours” that Diana was “secretly comforting” Barrymore and that he was being treated for alcohol addiction.
In his witness statement – paragraph 42 – Harry writes: “Mr Morgan’s reference to ‘secret’ meetings, I can only assume that this information had been obtained via voicemail interception and/or other unlawful information gathering such as live land line tapping.”
‘Barrage of horrific personal attacks’
Morgan has always denied any involvement in, or knowledge of phone-hacking or other illegal activity, but has very publicly criticised both Harry and his wife, Meghan, in the past.
Later in the statement – paragraph 194 – Prince Harry accuses Morgan of inflicting a “barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation” on both him and Meghan.
“Unfortunately, as a consequence of me bringing my Mirror Group claim, both myself and my wife have been subjected to a barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation from Piers Morgan, who was the Editor of the Daily Mirror between 1995 and 2004, presumably in retaliation and in the hope that I will back down, before being able to hold him properly accountable for his unlawful activity towards both me and my mother during his editorship,” he wrote.
Morgan’s spokesperson had no comment on Harry’s claims.
Piers Morgan Vs Harry and Meghan: A brief history
The Duke of Sussex today firmly put Piers Morgan in the spotlight for his alleged actions as editor of the Daily Mirror.
But Morgan’s relationship with the royal couple has a complex history.
Morgan first met Meghan in 2016, before she met Prince Harry.
The pair “got on brilliantly” and “had a couple of dirty martinis” according to Morgan, who told RTE’s The Late Late Show in 2019.
But their relationship quickly turned sour after Meghan met Harry, when Morgan accused the duchess of “ghosting” him.
“I just think she’s a slight social climber,” he told Late Late host Ryan Tubridy.
Morgan’s criticism of the couple then escalated after their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, in which Meghan said she “didn’t want to be alive anymore”.
Reacting to the interview, Morgan said he “didn’t believe a word” of it, while presenting ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB).
His comments sparked furious outrage from the public, with 41,000 Ofcom complaints and mental health charity Mind stating they were “disappointed” by his comments.
Perhaps most famously of all, Morgan stormed off the set of GMB, and later left his role as presenter, after clashing with fellow presenter Alex Beresford about the interview.
Morgan maintained his opinion even after leaving the show, saying that he didn’t believe “almost anything that comes out of her mouth” and that Meghan had done damage to the British monarchy.
“If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly-held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it,” he said in March 2021.
It also emerged that Meghan formally complained about Morgan before he left GMB.
The complaint was understood to focus on how Morgan’s comments may affect the issue of mental health generally and those attempting to deal with their own problems.
Image: Harry and Meghan were criticised by Morgan after their Oprah interview
What has MGN said?
Previously, MGN, now owned by Reach, has admitted its titles were involved in phone hacking, settling more than 600 claims, but its lawyer, Andrew Green KC, has maintained that there was no evidence that Harry had ever been a victim.
As Prince Harry became the first British royal to appear in a witness box in more than a century, Mr Green claimed that his phone could not have been hacked when one of the articles was published as he did not have a mobile phone at the time.
Image: Harry leaving court
He also dismissed the claim that Diana’s voicemails were hacked as “total speculation” and “without any evidential basis whatsoever”.
Proceedings are due to conclude by the end of June, with Mr Justice Fancourt expected to give his written ruling later in the year.
The Duke of Sussex is to resume giving evidence in his High Court claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over alleged unlawful information gathering.
The duke is suing MGN for damages, claiming journalists at its titles – which also include the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
He alleges that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) titles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial.
In his written evidence before the court, the 38-year-old said MGN’s alleged intrusion into his life contributed to “a huge amount of paranoia” in his relationships.
In a 49-page witness statement, the duke said that he found it “very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia”.
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“Friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily,” he said, later adding that some of his friends “became instant targets”.
• He feels “sick” at the thought of former Mirror editor Piers Morgan and journalists allegedly hacking his mother Diana‘s phone
• He believes both the UK press and government “are at rock bottom”
• Reveals he has never been an account holder or received a bill for a mobile phone – this was dealt with “by the Institution, presumably for security purposes although that now seems rather ironic”
• He also says the Institution could “wipe our devices remotely”
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3:02
What’s included in Prince Harry’s evidence?
Andrew Green KC, for MGN, questioned Harry on about 20 of the 33 articles over the course of Tuesday.
Harry was asked about why he has complained about articles in MGN titles when the same information had previously been put into the public domain by other media outlets.
The duke said his understanding was that MGN journalists used unlawful methods to get “exclusive” angles on existing stories or to move the story on in some way.
Mr Green also asked Harry about his claim that articles “caused him to be paranoid and to distrust those around him”, and whether he was referring to specific MGN articles or “the general effect of all of the articles” about him.
Harry said: “Yes, because … it is 20 years ago and I simply can’t other than speculate whether I saw these articles at the time.
“I certainly saw a lot of articles at the time and was made aware … unfortunately, by the behaviour and reaction of my inner circle.”
MGN is contesting his claim and has either denied or not admitted that articles about Harry being examined at the trial involved phone hacking or unlawful activity.
Harry’s claim is being heard alongside three other “representative” claims during a trial which began last month and is due to last six to seven weeks.
The three other representative claimants are Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, who is best known for playing Kevin Webster in the long-running soap, former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.