Tina Turner Has Died At The Age Of 83: Through The Years With The Singer

Anna Mae Bullock was born in 1939 and grew up in St. Louis. She immersed herself in the R&B music scene as a teenager, and it was there that she formed a love of music! Eventually, she would meet Ike Turner in a local club, and be officially dubbed Tina Turner, the name the world would soon know her as. 

Ike, who was a part of the band Rocket 88, dubbed one of the first rock bands in history, called Tina Turner on stage to sing B.B King’s "You Know I Love You", and the musical bond was then born! The duo created their act, and by 1960 they had a hit song "A Fool In Love", which reached No.2 on the charts.

In 1962, Tina and Ike would marry in Tijuana, Mexico. The couple became a family unit, with Ike accepting Tina's firstborn son, Craig from a previous relationship, Ike's two sons from a previous relationship, and the one child they shared together two years prior to their nuptials.

It wasn’t until 1971 did they really soar into superstardom after covering Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary". This act would lead to Tina Turner's first Grammy. But it wasn’t all rainbows for the couple.

Ike suffered from deep childhood trauma, and in turn, reacted to this pain by abusing Tina on the regular. The sexual, physical and emotional abuse Tina suffered sent her into a raging depression, and in 1968 she attempted suicide. However, she recovered and quickly fled her marriage in 1976. She arrived at a Ramada Inn in Dallas, Texas, in bloodied clothes. But she never looked back and filed for divorce. She only took her stage name from the marriage and two cars.

A documentary based on the story of the Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter featured Tina Turner in the film with her hit single, "I've Been Loving You Too Long". She quickly garnered another role in the comedy movie Taking Off and is seen in the film performing at a bar in one of the scenes.

But music wasn't the only thing that Tina turner could do! A musical fantasy film based on the music of The Who titled Tommy featured turner as "The Acid Queen" who attempts to wake the hero up from a dream-like state. The role was quickly noted as a win for the singer! 

Her biggest role, however, was in Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, the movie follows turner as the villain of the film "Aunty Entity". The performance garnered a lot of attention, and Turner was awarded an NAACP Image Award. 

With film success and after leaving a tumultuous marriage, Turner went back to her roots and in 1984 released Private Dancer, an album that ended up winning her a Grammy for the song "What’s Love Got To Do With It", which reached No.1 on the charts.

After two other hugely successful albums, she penned a memoir in 1986, and the memoir was made into the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It, which starred Angela Bassett as Turner. Tina admitted that she never watched the film in its entirety, but the film was widely successful.