Details of Tina Turner’s funeral have been revealed after the iconic singer died on Tuesday at the age of 83.
Extensive plans for the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s funeral have not yet been made public, but a spokesperson for the family confirmed that only the star’s closest friends and family will be in attendance for the intimate ceremony.
‘There will be a private funeral ceremony attended by close friends and family,’ the spokesperson confirmed to The Sun.
It came after Turner’s cause of death was confirmed yesterday following her passing at her home in Küsnach near Zurich following a long, unspecified illness.
Tributes to the star have flooded in from within the music industry and beyond following news of her passing, as fans flocked to her Switzerland home to lay flowers and light candles.
Extensive plans for the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s funeral have not yet been made public. Pictured: Tina Turner performs during a concert, March 3, 2009, at the O2 Arena, in London
People gather in front of the gate of Chateau Algonquin, the house of late singer and stage performer Tina Turner in Kuesnacht, Switzerland, on Thursday
Turner lived with her husband at their lakeside home in Kuesnacht on Lake Zurich near the city of Zurich in Switzerland
Turner’s representatives have since confirmed that The Best singer died of natural causes.
They announced the news of her death earlier this week on Tuesday, May 24, saying: ‘With her the world loses a music legend and role model.’
She previously battled intestinal cancer and suffered with high blood pressure for over four decades.
Since news of Tuner’s death broke, well-wishers have been gathering outside the star’s lakeside house to pay tribute to the music legend who had made Switzerland her home for nearly three decades.
A large crowd began gathering outside the cast-iron gate yesterday evening, shrouded in darkness, with fans walking up one by one to lay flowers or set out candles, some flickering through red-tinted glass jars.
‘You’re simply the best,’ read one of the dozens of messages nestled among the bouquets.
‘I am shocked,’ Miran Znider, a 48-year-old Slovenian who lives nearby, told AFP, fighting back tears. ‘I didn’t expect it to happen so early.’
Asked why he had come, Znider said: ‘Because it’s the queen, the queen of all women. I love Tina.’
A view of the home of late singer Tina Turner in Kuesnacht near Zurich, Switzerland May 25, 2023
Tina Turner is pictured with her husband Erwin Bach at the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall Winter 2018/2019 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on July 3, 2018
He was among many who flocked to the Algonquin chateau in Kusnacht, on Lake Zurich’s exclusive Goldkueste (Golden Coast), where the 83-year-old queen of rock had lived for nearly three decades.
As people clustered together outside its tall gate, flanked by two large, illuminated columns and emblazoned with ‘Algonquin’ in gold letters, Turner’s music sounded from one of the cars parked nearby.
‘Today is a very sad day,’ Ozgur Arzik, 48, told AFP.
‘I actually grew up with the sons of Tina Turner, and I’m living close by here. I was always listening to her songs and I’m really sad that we lost her,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to be here.’
The American star gave up her US citizenship 10 years ago to become Swiss.
‘With Tina Turner’s death, the world has lost an icon,’ Switzerland’s President Alain Berset tweeted.
‘My thoughts are with the family of this impressive woman who found a second home in Switzerland.’
The municipality of Kusnacht issued a statement saying that ‘Tina Turner inspired people all over the world with her unique voice and touched many Kusnacht residents with her warmth and modesty’.
‘She was a proud citizen of Kusnacht,’ it added, hailing her close connection with the community, saying she had sponsored a rescue boat named ‘Tina’ and donated Christmas lights.
A man wearing a Tina Turner concert T-shirt stands beside flowers and candles laid down at the gate of the house of the late singer, Switzerland, Thursday
A woman stands beside flowers and candles laid down at the house of Tina Turner in Kuesnacht, Switzerland, on Thursday
A woman and her daughter lay down a bouquet of flowers at the front gate to Tuner’s Switzerland home on Thursday
People light candles and lay flowers at the gate of the house of singer and stage performer Tina Turner on Wednesday evening
A woman bends down to light a candle at the home of Tina Turner following news of her death
Candles are lit at the home of Tina Turner on Wednesday night as news of her passing broke
Turner moved to the wealthy Alpine nation in 1995 with her longtime German partner Erwin Bach, 67.
In 2013, three months after marrying Bach and receiving her Swiss passport, Turner relinquished her US citizenship.
The couple had long rented their chateau because of restrictions on foreigners owning property.
In 2021, the couple reportedly put down $76 million for a 10-building waterfront estate in the municipality of Staefa, on the northern shores of Lake Zurich.
At the time, Bach told the Handelszeitung daily that the 240,000-square-foot estate (22,300 square metres), featuring a pool and private lakefront space, would serve as a ‘new weekend retreat’.
Turner has been hailed by Swiss media a model Swiss citizen, noting that she had to learn German and also pass a local civics test and an interview to obtain her citizenship.
And once she had her passport in hand, she went to polling stations for the frequent popular votes held in the country, known for its direct democratic system.
In 2021, Bern university awarded her an honorary doctorate for her ‘unique musical and artistic life’s work’.
Flowers and candles are seen in the park of Chateau Algonquin, Tina Turner’s home in Kuesnacht
Flowers and candles are laid down inside the gate of Chateau Algonquin, the house of late singer and stage performer Tina Turner in Kuesnacht, Switzerland, on Thursday
People take photos of flowers and candles that were placed on the gate and inside at Chateau Algonquin, the house of the late singer and stage performer Tina Turner
Mourners and fans of Tina Turner gather outside her Kuesnacht home on Thursday following news of her death
