Tina Turner performing at MEN Arena, April 2009. Photo by Julia on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). The incomparable Tina Turner, the rock and roll singer who rose to fame under the controlling hand of an abusive partner, risked everything to leave him, then rebuilt her career from scratch to become a global superstar, died on May 24 at the age of 83. She had been dealing with health challenges for some time, having suffered a stroke in 2013, and been diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016. This was followed by kidney complications, for which she underwent a transplant the following year. A post shared by Tina Turner (@tinaturner) Born in Tennessee on November 26, 1939, Turner's given name was Anna Mae Bullock, and her beginnings were just as ordinary, albeit turbulent. She and her two older sisters were sent to live with grandparents for long stretches, as her parents would sometimes relocate for work. Bullock honed her vocal skills in Baptist church choirs but by the time she was 11, her mother fled to Illinois to escape the abusive marriage. Bullock would eventually join her, and it was at the Manhattan Club in St. Louis that she first saw Ike Turner perform with his band, the Kings of Rhythm. She was 17 years old at the time, and asked him to let her join the group, which he only did after Bullock commandeered the microphone one night during intermission and sang B.B. King's “You Know I Love You.” Under Turner's tutelage, she recorded her first song in 1958 under the name Little Ann, not long after graduating from high school, but only started attracting attention in 1960, when a local DJ heard her demo vocals on “A Fool in Love,” a song Ike Turner had written for Art Lassiter. The tape reached the desk of Henry “Juggy” Murray, president of Sue Records, an R&B label, and Turner knew he had found gold in Bullock. He renamed her “Tina,” conferred his surname upon her, and trademarked it so that if Bullock ever left the act, another singer could replace her by assuming the stage persona of “Tina Turner.” Little did he know Turner was irreplaceable. Her star was quickly on the rise: “A Fool in Love” reached Number 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart and Number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by the single “It's Gonna Work Out Fine,” which earned the duo a Grammy nomination for Best Rock and Roll Performance. To ride the wave of popularity, Turner created the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which toured heavily across the United States, even playing to desegregated audiences in southern clubs and hotels. Ike and Tina married in 1962, and record deals came fast and furious over the next few years, including a stint with Warner Brothers, which helped raise their profile with television appearances on shows like American Bandstand and Hollywood a Go-Go. After they appeared in the 1966 concert film The Big T.N.T. Show, they signed with influential music producer Phil Spector, and opened for the Rolling Stones UK tour that autumn. It was the first time Turner began to experience creative freedom and broaden her range of vocal material, but she was still very much part of Ike's operation. They opened for the Stones’ US tour, and a plethora of musical stars, including David Bowie, Elvis Presley and Elton John, guest appeared at the Turners’ Las Vegas residency. By 1970, under Spector's guidance, Ike and Tina Turner's albums marked a departure from their usual R&B repertoire to encompass rock and roll classics like “Come Together,” “Get Back,” and “Honky Tonk Woman.” In 1971, their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's “Proud Mary” became their biggest hit. Turner's career would also take her into the realm of film, where she gave several critically acclaimed performances. As her public persona grew, however, her personal life was in shambles. Ike was verbally and physically abusive. The violence became so unbearable that in 1968, she attempted suicide. She eventually left him after 16 years of marriage and relinquished everything except the right to her stage name. This one possession, bestowed upon her as an act of ownership, would eventually set her free. In the early stages of her solo career, having survived for some time off food stamps and the kindness of friends, Turner supported herself by appearing on television variety shows. Though much of her income went into settling lawsuits from gigs she would no longer fulfil as part of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, she worked hard and re-emerged with a sexy new image; this was Turner commanding not only the stage, but also taking charge of her own life, on her own terms. It was her fifth solo album, 1984's Private Dancer, that solidified her image as a still-relevant performer who had a lot more to offer.