Rock icon Tina Turner dies at 83

Legendary rock artist Tina Turner has died at her home in Switzerland.

She overcame domestic abuse and an industry that shrugged its shoulders at her to become one of the biggest female recording artists of all time.

“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 Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,” her family said in a statement Wednesday. “With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.”

The news was confirmed on Turner’s official Facebook page.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the statement said. “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.”

Her career began when she was discovered by Ike Turner and with her raspy voice, and choreographed back up dancers, her high-energy stage presence became inspirational to artists like Mick Jagger. That legacy continues to be seen in performers like Beyonce. The message was she could be as good a rocker as any man.

But it was off stage where she really had to find her inner strength when, unbeknownst to the public at the time, she was the victim of domestic violence at the hands of Ike, an often drug-addled guitarist.

With nothing but her name, Tina walked away from Ike and the band, and with a rock industry not interested in a woman then in her 50s, she showed them all she was simply the best with her first solo album, the Grammy-winning Private Dancer, in 1984.

Born Anna Mae Bullock on Nov. 26, 1939, Turner grew up in Nutbush, Tenn., a rural and unincorporated area in Haywood County chronicled in her song “Nutbush City Limits.” She moved to be with her grandmother in Brownsville where, soon after high school, she met Ike.

In 1960, Ike and Tina Turner released their debut single “A Fool in Love.” It was an immediate success, reaching the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next year, they released another hit single, “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine,” which led to their first Grammy nomination for Best Rock and Roll Performance.

Tina, Ike and the band toured together through much of the 1960s.

Her story of domestic abuse and career rebirth was documented in the 1993 movie, What’s Love Got To Do With It.

She went on to win multiple Grammys including a Lifetime Achievement Award, claimed a Kennedy Centre Honour and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

She is survived by her partner Erwin Bach and two sons of Ike’s sons she adopted.

— With files from The Canadian Press