Entertainment
Tina Turner ‘Had a Hard Life’ But It Only Made Her Stronger: ‘I Got Through It’
Life has been anything but easy for Tina Turner! She’ll be turning 80 years old on Tuesday, November 26, and during her time on this earth the “Proud Mary” singer has endured a lot of heartbreak — including her 14-year violent relationship with ex-husband Ike Turner and the suicide of son Raymond in 1978.
“There was violence in my family when I grew up, and that’s something that can make you lose the brainpower you might normally have,” Tina previously told O magazine.
The musician stayed with Ike until they divorced in 1978. However, two years prior to that, Tina separated from the R&B singer because she had enough of Ike abusing her.
“He didn’t like that he had to depend on me,” Tina recently explained in an interview with CBS. “And I didn’t want to start a fight because it was always a black eye, a broken nose, a busted lip, a rib.”
After Tina decided that enough was enough, she left Ike and went on to start her career as a solo musician. She reached what she called her “Cinderella” moment when she signed with record label EMI/Capitol.
In 1984, Tina released the album of a lifetime. Thanks to her worldwide smash “What’s Love Got To Do With It” on her Private Dancer album, Tina won four Grammys and was being called an “overnight” success.
“I was working so hard on the Private Dancer tour that I really didn’t have time for a boyfriend,” she once said. But all that changed once she met German music executive Erwin Bach.
“There’s nothing that makes me feel like I have to work at looking pretty,” she has explained about what it’s like to be around him. “We’re past that. We’re comfortable in our own skin and, more importantly, comfortable with each other.”
Tina and Erwin got married in 2013 and they have been together ever since. To this day, they show no signs of ever separating or getting a divorce. “I’m a happy person,” Tina gushed. “I had a very hard life. But I didn’t put blame on anything or anyone. I got through it.”
For more on Tina Turner, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter!
