She had redefined music with her big, flawless voice and she does not want to shy away from celebrating her achievements.
Legendary singer and musician Tina Turner turns 80 today and her birthday wish for herself has taken social media by storm. She posted a video on Twitter where she spoke about her challenges with her sickness and how she "feels good to be an 80-year-old woman."
"Yes, I'm 80," Turner began. "How did I think I would be at 80? Not like this. How is this? Well, I look great, I feel good, I've gone through some very serious sicknesses that I'm overcoming. So it's like having a second chance at life. I'm happy to be an 80-year-old woman," she said in the video.
To celebrate turning 80 years old, Tina has recorded a special birthday video message just for her fans.💜 #Tina80 pic.twitter.com/dUFEUawQ7r
— TinaTurner (@LoveTinaTurner) November 26, 2019
Turner suffered a stroke in 2013 and was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016. She went on the document her challenges with life in her memoir, My Love Story. The Private Dancer hitmaker also developed kidney disease and had to go through a transplant. The kidney was donated by her husband Erwin Bach, reports the Mail, who she dated for 27 years before getting married to in 2013.
"I know that my medical adventure is far from over," Turner wrote in her book. "But I'm still here — we're still here, closer than we ever imagined. I can look back and understand why my karma was the way it was. Good came out of bad. Joy came out of pain. And I have never been so completely happy as I am today."
Turner made a public appearance just last month to celebrate the opening of a Broadway show based on her life. At the time, speaking to an audience that included Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and Anna Wintour, she said, "This musical is my life but it's like poison that turned to medicine...I can never be as happy as I am now," reports CNN.
Turner started her career in the mid-40s but gained recognition in the early 50s when she started recording rock numbers with her then-husband, Ike Turner. During the 80s Turner became a rock 'n' roll star with hits like Private Dancer and What's Love Got to Do With It?
During this era Tina Turner became "a whole new kind of pop star, defining middle-aged cool," Rolling Stone reported.
However, in a recent interview with the New York Times, Turner revealed that she was "tired of making everyone happy," quotes the Mail. "I don’t sing. I don’t dance. I don’t dress up," she said. "I was just tired of singing and making everybody happy. That’s all I’d ever done in my life." So, she decided to break free.
Therefore, today as the ground-breaking artist enters a milestone phase in her life, she has only gratitude and happiness in her heart. She was wished by many famous artists for her birthday. Rapper Missy Elliott's tweet was particularly touching.
.@LoveTinaTurner We Celebrate your 80th today! It’s so IMPORTANT for us to KNOW OUR HISTORY in music because of artist like #TinaTurner who KICKED DOWN DOORS & left them open for artist like MYSELF & MOST of your FAVS🙂🙌🏾 WE ❤️ YOU TINA 🍰🎂🎉🎈 pic.twitter.com/OluFh1bLLJ
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) November 26, 2019
She wrote, "We Celebrate your 80th today! It's so IMPORTANT for us to KNOW OUR HISTORY in music because of artist like #TinaTurner who KICKED DOWN DOORS & left them open for artist like MYSELF & MOST of your FAVS."
Happy birthday, Tina!
References:
https://www.whio.com/news/national/tina-turner-turns-look-great-feel-good/6JjUP3gH6HAcG9bbHlhnFP/
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tina-turner-birthday-tribute-916227/
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/26/entertainment/tina-turner-80/index.html
