Tina Turner sold over 180 million albums and won many prizes, including eight Grammies — not to mention the hearts of countless fans. On her sold-out farewell tour in 2009 when she was nearly 70, the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll swept the stage like a whirlwind. Many young stars could only dream of maintaining the sex appeal she still radiated at that age.

Anna Mae Bullock was born in Nutbush, in the US state of Tennessee, in 1939. Her life changed dramatically in 1957 when she met Ike Turner, already a well-known musician. One night, during one of his gigs in the D'Lisa Club in St. Louis, Anna Mae spontaneously picked up the mic and sang a B.B. King hit. It was the beginning of her outstanding career. Ike Turner hired the 17-year-old on the spot.

From then on, Anna Mae gigged as a background singer in Ike's band, Kings of Rhythm. She got her big chance when front singer Art Lassiter didn't show up for an album recording and Ike asked her to replace him as soloist. She sang "A Fool in Love" and scored her first hit, which reached number 27 on the US charts in August 1960.

Ike renamed his new lead singer Tina and his show became "The Ike & Tina Turner Revue." They married in Mexico in 1962 and had two sons together. Professionally, they consistently advanced. Tina gained attention in Europe when she sang in Phil Spector's pop symphony, "River Deep, Mountain High."

Regular concerts in Las Vegas and a profitable album contract made up the milestones of her successful years with Ike, when they performed an average of 270 concerts a year. They hit the top 10 in the US charts in 1970 with "Proud Mary." That's also when Tina received her first Grammy award as Best Rhythm and Blues Singer.

Ike and Tina Turner were inducted as a duo into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but their life as a couple was a nightmare. Ike turned out to be a tyrant who beat Tina several times into hospitalization. In 1976, she ran away after a concert with only 36 cents in her pocket, never to return to him again. Years later, she garnered her own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

In the divorce, Tina gave up all her rights and renounced her share of their fortune. The only thing she kept was her stage name. For a while, she survived on welfare. The major record labels had written her off as a hard-to-market has-been, but Tina returned to the spotlight in 1984 with her album "Private Dancer."

Tina performed together with Mick Jagger at the Live Aid Concert in 1985. They had already met in the 1960s, when she and Ike performed as the opening act ahead of the Rolling Stones. During this concert, they sang "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock'n'Roll." At the end of the duet, Mick ripped away Tina's skirt — and Tina just kept singing in her in panties and leather top.

Tina Turner became a phenomenon. In 1988, she sang at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in front of 180,000 spectators — a record audience for a solo performer. She was paid a whopping $1 million (€930,000) for a brief appearance in Denmark. She collected donations for sick children by singing for business people and celebrities who were willing to pay more than $23,000 for a ticket.

Tina stepped down from the stage in 2009. A practicing Buddhist, she announced in her 1985 autobiography her plans to share her spiritual knowledge following her career in music. With yoga teacher Regula Curti and mantra singer Dechen Shak-Dagsay, Tina developed a new Christian-Buddhist music project called "Beyond."

Privately, things were going well, too: In the summer of 2013, Tina, who had become a Swiss citizen, married her longtime partner Erwin Bach, a German music manager. Around 120 guests were invited to the ceremony in Switzerland, including celebrities such as David Bowie, Eros Ramazzotti and Giorgio Armani.

Tina's life story was turned into different films. "Tina, The Musical" has been running successfully in London since Spring 2018, and is also on show in New York and Hamburg. It tells Turner's exciting life story and is peppered with her great hits, with US singer and actress Adrienne Warren basking in the role of the great soul diva in London — Tina, herself, was also involved in the musical.

Tina Turner chose not to return to the stage. In 2017, her husband donated one of his kidneys to her — for years she had to regularly undergo dialysis. Tina enjoyed her retirement at Lake Zurich, Switzerland. It was at her secluded lakeside home where she reportedly passed away on May 24, 2023.