Month: May 2023

Singer Tina Turner has died at age 83. Turner died peacefully after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland (Turner became a Swiss citizen a decade ago). Turner’s manager said in a statement posted to social media: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner. With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.” 

Born Anna Mae Bullock, Tina got her start after moving to St. Louis when she was 16. She became involved in the music scene and met her future husband, Ike Turner. Tina and Ike were married in 1962, and he changed her name to Tina Turner; she became the lead vocalist for what became known as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. They went on to become a huge success together, releasing hits like “Proud Mary” and “Get Back.”

Ike was physically abusive to his wife throughout their entire relationship, and controlled their finances and trademarked Tina’s name – so she had no access to her own income. Tina eventually filed for divorce in 1976 and went on to sign with Capitol Records, with whom she would release a number of popular songs, including her iconic 1984 album, Private Dancer. The single “What’s Love Got to Do with It” won the GRAMMY for Record of the Year in 1985.nTina released nine full-length studio albums, winning eight GRAMMYs, three GRAMMY Hall of Fame Awards and the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — the first time in 1991 with Ike, and the second time in 2021, weeks ahead of her 82nd birthday.

In 1986, Tina met German music executive Erwin Bach; rhe two married in a civil ceremony in July 2013, after dating for more than two decades. Tina is survived by her adopted sons Michael and Ike Jr. Her sons, Ronnie and Craig, died in December 2022 and July 2018, respectively.

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“One Direction” alum Liam Payne just reached a major milestone, recently sharing he’s more than 100 days sober. Payne told iFL TV: “I feel amazing. I feel really, really good, and support from the fans and everything has been really, really good. So, I’m super happy.”

The 29-year-old has spoken about his sobriety journey before, saying in 2021: “It was only until I saw myself after that I was like, ‘All right, I need to fix myself. It was like a few pictures of me on a boat and I’m all, like, bloated out, and I call it pills-and-booze face….My face was just like 10 times more than it is now. And I just didn’t like myself very much, so then I made a change.”

Payne noted his battle with alcohol had started years prior to joining One Direction: “The problem we had in the band—and I don’t blame anybody for this. I don’t want to seem like I’m whining or moaning, ‘Oh my god, look at my life’ whatever. But it feels to me like, when we were in the band, the best way to secure us, because of how big it got, was to just lock us in a room. And, of course, what is in the room? A minibar. So at a certain point, I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have a party for one,’ and that just seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life. And then you look back how long you’ve been drinking for, you’re like, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s a long time,’ even for someone as young as I was. It was wild.”

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