‘Always humble, Tina never acted like a star’
TINA Turner was a star both on stage and off it, her neighbours in Switzerland said yesterday.
Fans, friends and residents of the sleepy town of Kusnacht on the shores of Lake Zurich turned up at her mansion there to lay flowers at its gates after the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll died aged 83 onWednesday.
Many told how the global superstar would stop to say hello when she was in the park, out walking or shopping in local stores.
But Tina, who died with her loving music producer husband Erwin Bach by her side, had not been seen in recent months. Neighbours knew that she had been poorly as Erwin, 66, donated a kidney to save her life seven years ago.
The superstar had opened up about her health struggles on World Kidney Day on March 9, revealing that she had put herself in “grave danger” by not taking a 1978 diagnosis of hypertension seriously.
Tina’s message from March added: “For far too long I believed that my body was an untouchable and indestructible bastion.”
At her home, Algonquin, one fan had put up the words: “200 million records sold, 8 Grammy Awards, only one Tina Turner.”
As fellow stars such as Dionne Warwick and Cher paid tribute, Swiss fan Alexandra Kruse, 44, who made a video with the singer in 2015, said: “I wanted to say thank you and goodbye.
Grace
“She was simply The Best. I believe that her honesty about her domestic abuse inspired a lot of women to escape that.
“I only spent a few days with her. She was such a professional but also so friendly; she knew everyone’s names on the set and had such grace and wisdom.
“There was a spiritual side to her too; she was a Buddhist and loved her garden by the lake. She may have been a big star, as Hollywood as you get here in Switzerland. But she was so open and brave about what she had been through in life.”
Townsfolk said that Tina paid for Christmas lights to be put up around the community and for a lake rescue vessel – called Tina.
Tennessee-born, she learned German when she became a Swiss citizen, went to local yoga classes and gave the occasional impromptu show for friends – even after retiring from live performing in 2009.
Heating firm boss Leo Scherer, 65, who lives on the same road, said: “She was a very good person. She was really happy here and she would always say ‘Hi’. She had a quiet life and when you met her out and about she was always humble, she never acted like a big star.”
Finnish fan Satu Heinanen said Tina was admired by her daughters Sarra, 23, and Lili, 20, who both sent messages of sympathy before she went to lay flowers.
Satu, 58, who lives nearby, said Tina was often seen but was left to enjoy her privacy: “It is like that in Switzerland.We do not bother people, even when they are famous. I think that is why she loved it here.
“I saw her last concert here on February 15, 2009, on her farewell tour, and she was still amazing. She sang all her big hits. And oh, those legs – she was still up there dancing on a ramp high above the audience in high heels. She truly was the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll, and will never be forgotten.”
Anna Lander, 70, said she often saw Tina in local shops, but added: “I was shopping down the road recently and thought ‘I have not seen her for a while’. Then of course I realised she was unwell.”
Elizabeth Walter, 62, took granddaughter Isabelle on a ferry across the lake to lay flowers. She said: “I have been a fan for 50 years. It was not just about the music, it was about Tina Turner as a person.
“She has been living here since 1994, and found happiness after real tough times.”
Cher said she had often visited her ailing friend Tina.
The US singer told TV channel MSNBC: “I started going to visit her...so that she knows we haven’t forgotten her. We would all take turns going and spending time with her and it made her happy.
“Someone said ‘When you two laugh together it’s the funniest thing that you can ever possibly want to hear’ because we both have such distinct laughs.” Cher, 77, revealed on her first visit Tina, who was on a chaise longue looking at the lake, said ‘I can’t spend too much time (with you)...’
“And then five hours later we
were laughing like crazy and she wanted to get up and show everything she’d bought in her house.
“She was having a good time in spite of the fact that she was really sick and not wanting people to know about it, but she had her dialysis machine in her house”.
Dionne Warwick, 82, said: “Not only will I miss that eternal ball of energy named Tina Turner but the entire world will also find this void in their lives. Rest in peace my friend!”.
The What’s Love Got to Do With It singer died after a so-far unspecified illness – it is unclear if kidney issues contributed to her death.
Erwin and Tina wed in a civil ceremony by the lake in July 2013.
She had met him when she landed in Cologne for her Private Dancer tour in 1985.
Erwin, then an executive with EMI, arrived to collect Tina in a Mercedes – a gift from her manager. But it wasn’t the car the star adored, it was its driver.
Tina wrote later: “My heart suddenly started to beat BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, drowning out all other sounds. So this is what they call love at first sight, I thought. Oh my God, I am not ready for this.”
The couple then settled in Switzerland in 1994.
Swiss President Alain Berset wrote online: “With Tina Turner’s death, the world has lost an icon.
Warmth
“My thoughts are with the family of this impressive woman who found a second home in Switzerland.” The municipality of Kusnacht said: “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.”
Tina and Erwin are said to have paid £58million for a 10-building estate in Staefa, also on the lake, as a “new weekend retreat”.
US TV show host Oprah Winfrey hailed her courage as a domestic abuse survivor and “a role model not only for me but for the world”.
Ex-Spice Girl Mel B said she too was inspired by Tina to speak out about her own abuse ordeal.
But when asked once how she would wish to be remembered, Tina replied simply: “As the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll.”