Tina Turner left a life of pain in the U.S. In Europe, she found home
“With the death of Tina Turner, the world has lost an icon,” said Swiss President Alain Berset. Tweeted After Wednesday The star is passing At the age of 83. He described the singer, who had lived in Switzerland since 1995, as an “inspiring woman” in the country.
On Thursday, roses and candles were placed outside the door of Turner’s home in Küsnacht on Zurich’s Golden Coast lake. “You’re just the best,” read a handwritten tribute to the singer, a nod to one of her most famous songs.
The municipality said Turner was “a proud citizen of Küsnacht.” a statement, He added that he touched many people with his “warmth and modesty”. Turner sponsored a rescue boat called “TINA” and donated Christmas lights, the statement said.
“She’s become quite European,” British music journalist Lloyd Bradley said in emailed comments Thursday, adding that it helped her maintain her success in Europe. “The UK crowd at least saw it as ‘our own’.
In an interview with In 1997, Turner told CNN’s Larry King why he had left his life in the United States behind. “Basically, Europe has been very supportive of my music,” he said. “Private Dancer was the beginning of my success in England,” he said of his fifth solo studio album, recorded in London and released in 1984, which eventually went multi-platinum.
When King was asked if Europe supported him more than America, Turner replied with a smile, “Yes.” “Yes, very much.”
“But you’re a big star here, you’re a superstar in America,” King said, before Turner replied: “Not as big as Madonna. I’m as big as Madonna in Europe.”
Even when Turner was part of a musical duo with her abusive husband Ike, she found a different level of appreciation in Europe. Although most of Ike and Tina Turner’s hits remained on the R&B circuit in the United States, their songs found mainstream success in England, “which has a long history of appreciating the style of black American music.” The Washington Post previously reported.. The Rolling Stones opened for Ike and Tina on their first UK tour in 1965.
Turner’s time in England also played an important role after his split from Ike in 1976, and making a name for himself as a solo artist.
“It was a smart move on her part when, in the late 1970s when she couldn’t buy a hit in the US and was heavily involved in cabaret, she took on the Australian management,” Bradley said. who had strong connections in Europe.” .
“The live work he did there allowed him to escape the ‘nostalgia tag’ and reinvent himself with the help of Marsh & Ware, the British/Euro electronic music wizards… Interestingly, this sound was big in America and allowed him to sell himself back to his homeland as a very modern rock star.
Turner also credited British star David Bowie with ensuring she signed with Capitol Records. Bowie told company officials that he was going to see his favorite singer, “So they all came along and sang — there I was on stage. They only signed me because of David,” he said. told The Post 1993 interview.
Turner also explained in a 1996 interview with “60 Minutes” how he found more lasting success in Europe. “What I find with my homeland, is that nothing lasts long,” Turner said, adding that “Europe is different.”
Turner told “60 Minutes” that many people outside of Europe were stunned when she explained that she was a bigger star in Europe than in her homeland. “No one in America knows. I mean, people are always surprised when I explain,” he said.
With more concert ticket sales than any other solo artist in music history, Turner has performed countless times across the continent, from London to Paris, Berlin to Prague, to the delight of fans. “She was a true female rock legend and … so few of them are European, even as Europe embraced Tina and Chrissy Hand,” Bradley said.
Greg Rose, a British fan who loved the singer so much he attended Tina Turner’s 30th birthday party, wrote on Facebook that the singer had been “plastered” on his bedroom walls since he was a teenager. and had seen him for over 70 years. Times in concert
London-based Brazilian journalist Bruno Garcías said his fascination with Turner began when he was a teenager. The 50-year-old said he still finds it inspiring. “Her life story epitomizes the concept of resilience, strength and control. It’s incredible what she went through,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Beyond her career success, Europe was important to Turner in another way – as she met her future husband, German music executive Erwin Bach. The two met in 1985 and were together for nearly 40 years, marrying in 2013. They lived together in Germany and then Switzerland.
On social media, many have hailed Turner’s decision to leave the US and settle in Europe as an inspiration.
American-born writer Joy C. Mitchell, who lives in Europe, said Wednesday that Turner was “one of the first black American women” to see her go to Europe and find “career success and love.” Mitchell wrote that Turner “was, in some ways, the blueprint. I always imagined running up to him whenever I was in Switzerland and thanking him.”