'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' Tina Turner Dies At 83

LOS ANGELES, CA — Tina Turner, the legendary singer who became known as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" during her six-decade career, has died at the age of 83, according to several reports.

“Tina Turner, the ‘Queen of Rock’n Roll’ has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland. With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model," her representative told The Guardian.

Turner's publicist told The Telegraph that there will be a private funeral ceremony for the singer's close friends and family.

Turner was a pioneering rock legend whose life story was turned into a movie and a Broadway musical. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and underwent a kidney transplant a year later.

Born in Tennessee to a sharecropping family, Turner's music career began in the 1960s alongside that of her husband, Ike Turner. They topped the charts and earned a Grammy for their cover of "Proud Mary," while their song "River Deep, Mountain High," was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

After leaving her abusive marriage in 1978, Turner struggled financially as she supported her sons and also found it challenging to launch a solo career, Vanity Fair reported.

But Turner went on to find great success after leaving the partnership, enjoying what Billboard called "one of the greatest comebacks in music history."

Her first five solo albums failed to gain much traction, as she made TV appearances, toured and headlined Las Vegas cabaret shows. She skyrocketed back to success with "Private Dancer," the 1984 multi-platinum album that was one of Billboard's best-selling of the year.

The album earned Turner four of her eight Grammys, and spawned the timeless hit "What's Love Got to Do with It," which gave Turner her first and only Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.

Over the next two decades, Turner continued to be honored by Grammy nods and wins.

She was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 as a solo artist; she was first inducted alongside Ike Turner 30 years earlier.

The Hall of Fame noted in 2021 that Turner "expanded the once-limited idea of how a Black woman could conquer a stage and be both a powerhouse and a multidimensional being," the BBC reported.

Turner’s death sent the music and entertainment world into mourning Wednesday.

“We’re deeply saddened to learn that Queen of Rock ’n Roll Tina Turner has passed away at the age of 83,” MTV Tweeted. “Her legacy as a music icon and legendary performer will live on in the many hearts she inspired.”

Her fandom spanned continents and generations.

“Legends never die,” tweeted actor Cary Elwes. “They live on in our collective psyche forever. Thank you for enriching our lives, Tina. Rest in power.”