Known as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, a flood of tributes poured in following news of Tina Turner’s death on Wednesday, emphasizing her overwhelming impact on the music industry across a five-decade career.
From her early success with first husband Ike Turner and their 1966 release of River Deep – Mountain High, to Turner’s chart-topping 1984 song What’s Love Got To Do With It, the icon had a legendary music career which naturally earnt her substantial wealth.
After selling more than 100 million records worldwide, the Proud Mary star is believed to have amassed a staggering estimated net worth of $250 million.
In addition to her glittering music career, Turner also appeared on the big screen in Tommy (1975), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Last Action Hero (1993).
After selling her image rights for a reported $50 million just two years ago and splashing out on a $76 million ten-building estate, Turner amassed a significant portfolio as she retired in comfort in Switzerland.
After selling more than 100 million records worldwide, Tina Turner is believed to have amassed a staggering estimated net worth of $250 million. She is pictured in 185 at the Metropol in Berlin, Germany
Turner and husband Erwin Bach splashed out on a $76 million ten-building estate overlooking Lake Zürich
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
Mel Gibson (left) and Tina Turner are seen in promotional posters for Mad Max III – Beyond Thunderdome, released in 1985
In contrast to her much later success, Turner was born into the very quite rural Tennessee community of Nutbush in 1939.
Her father worked as an overseer on a farm and her mother left the family when the singer was 11 years old, according to the singer’s 2018 memoir ‘My Love Story.’ As a teenager, she moved to St. Louis to rejoin her mom.
Ike Turner then discovered her when she was 17 after she grabbed the mic to sing at his club show in St. Louis in 1957.
The band leader later recorded a hit song, ‘A Fool In Love,’ with the young singer and gave her the stage name Tina Turner, before the two married in Tijuana, Mexico.
The ensemble called the Ike and Tina Turner Revue thrust her into the spotlight.
The group collaborated with members of rock royalty, including The Who and Phil Spector, in the 1960s and 1970s and appeared on the cover of issue two of Rolling Stone magazine in 1967.
Ike and Tina Turner bounced between record labels, owing much of their commercial success to a relentless touring schedule. Their biggest hit was a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary, which hit top four on Billboard’s pop chart and sold more than one million copies worldwide.
Ike and Tina Turner performing ‘Nutbush City Limits’ on the German television program Musikladen, Bremen, West Germany, 1973
Then-husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike and Tina Turner perform onstage with a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar in 1964 in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas
Ike Turner discovered the singer when she was 17 after she grabbed the mic to sing at his club show in St. Louis in 1957. They are pictured in 1963
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical became a hit first in London’s West End in 2018 (pictured), and later on Broadway, and is still running
Turner left her husband one night in 1976 on a tour stop in Dallas, after he pummeled her during a car ride and she struck back, according to her memoir. Their divorce was finalized in 1978.
After leaving her husband, Turner spent years struggling to regain the limelight, releasing solo albums and singles that flopped and gigging at corporate conferences.
In 1980, she met new manager Roger Davies, an Australian music executive who went on to manage her for three decades. That led to a solo No. 1 – ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ – and then in 1984 her album ‘Private Dancer’ landed her at the top of the charts again.
‘Private Dancer’ went on to become Turner’s biggest album, the capstone of a career in which she sold more than 200 million records in total.
Turner also had sporadic appearances on the big screen, appearing in Tommy (1975), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Last Action Hero (1993).
The apocalyptic action film Mad Max saw her star alongside Mel Gibson and provide the song We Don’t Need Another Hero – adding to her already extensive commercial success.
Turner officially retired from live performing in 2009 after a sold-out concert in England. Her last performance was in Sheffield, Yorkshire
Tina Turner won eight Grammy’s from 25 nominations and three lifetime Grammy Awards. Pictured: Turner, center, speaks on stage with actors Daniel J. Watts, left, and Adrienne Warren on the opening night of the Broadway show
Tina Turner and Erwin Bach shopping in Milan, Italy, April 5, 2008, shortly before her retirement
In 1985 Turner met German music executive Erwin Bach, who became her long-term partner, and in 1988 she moved to London, beginning a decades-long residency in Europe.
She released two studio albums in the 1990s that sold well, especially in Europe, recorded the theme song for 1995 Bond movie ‘GoldenEye,’ and staged a successful world tour in 2008 and 2009.
After that, she retired from show business. She married Bach, relinquishing her U.S. citizenship and becoming a citizen of Switzerland.
The two splashed out on a $76 million ten-building estate in Switzerland overlooking Lake Zurich.
The estate, comprised of 10 buildings, was bought by Turner and Bach as a weekend retreat and came complete with water features including a private pond, stream, swimming pool and boat deck.
Turner and Bach had to wait to buy the property until they received official Swiss citizenship due to a Swiss law that states nonresidents are unable to purchase property in the country.
Prior to the official purchase nearly two years ago, the couple rented a home, known as Chateau Algonquin, in the nearby Kuesnacht for many years.
An aerial shot of the massive estate situated on Lake Zürich where Tina Turner lived with her husband
The 10-building estate includes water features like a private pond, stream, swimming pool and boat deck
Turner and Bach bought the $76 million estate as a weekend home not far from their primary residence
The pair purchased the home following the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to have a retreat that did not require them to leave the country
Turner also had a home in Kuesnacht, southeast of Zurich, where she lived for decades with her husband
Turner had unapologetically moved to Switzerland in 1998 for its discretion and calm, carrying her very public persona into a very private country
The couple also had a home in Kuesnacht, southeast of Zurich, where she lived for decades with her husband.
She unapologetically moved to Switzerland for its discretion and calm, carrying her very public persona into a very private country.
Despite having a world famous resident, neighbors never gawked, hounded her for autographs or snapped photos.
Many Swiss felt a sense of pride that she could retreat here from the pressures of the media spotlight. It afforded her the semblance of a normal life after a turbulent one in her native United States, including at the hands of her late former husband Ike who discovered her, married her and – according to her memoirs – violently beat her.
The star also previously owned a getaway villa in the South of France on the French Riviera, before suggesting that she had sold it in 2013. The property was named Anna Fleur and Turner would spend time there between stints in Cologne, Germany and London.
Tuner showed Architectural Digest around the serene home in 1999. ‘My work is noisy, but my life is quiet. I need nature and solitude – they nurture me,’ she told the publication when detailing the calmness within her cliffside multi-storey villa.
The veteran singer also made another savvy business move just years before her death. She agreed to sell the rights to her entire music catalog in 2021 to publishing giant BMG for $50million.
The deal saw BMG acquire hits such as The Best and Nutbush City Limits as well as the rights to Turner’s name and image.
A musical stage show was launched following her retirement. ‘TINA: The Tina Turner Musical,’ with Adrienne Warren initially acting and singing the star’s life story, was a hit first in London’s West End in 2018, and later on Broadway, and is still running. And in 2021 HBO released a documentary about her life, ‘Tina.’
