"We are the light of each other's lives, and we want to shine as bright as we can, together," Tina Turner wrote about her husband Erwin Bach.
Tina Turner, an icon in the music industry, set the bar for numerous other musicians, but Tina's romantic life certainly got dealt more than a few blows. After a tragically abusive marriage with Ike Turner, Tina finally found love with Erwin Bach in 1985, to whom she was married, up until her death on May 24, 2023.
In her 2021 HBO documentary Tina, the music legend—who passed away at age 83 following a "long illness"—discussed her relationship with Bach, who is now 67. "I had an abusive life. There's no other way to tell the story," Tina said.
Tina's abusive, erratic marriage to her first husband, Ike Turner, whom she divorced in 1976, was lacking stability; which she found with Bach, she wrote in her memoir, Happiness Becomes You, per PEOPLE. The couple relocated to Switzerland after their marriage in 2013, to spend their days in silence away from Hollywood.
Erwin continued to write Tina sincere love letters throughout their three decades of relationship to express how much she meant to him. Tina posted one of these on Instagram, with the adorable caption, "Erwin and I have been together for over 30 years and he still writes me love letters – isn’t that romantic? This letter is part of my big Birthday Book because Erwin and I wanted to share our love with you. I am so lucky to have him by my side. I’m curious – what makes you happy?"
"We grant each other freedom and space to be individuals at the same time we are a couple," Tina wrote in her memoir. "Erwin, who is a force of nature in his own right, has never been the least bit intimidated by my career, my talents, or my fame. He shows me that true love doesn't require the dimming of my light so that he can shine. On the contrary, we are the light of each other's lives, and we want to shine as bright as we can, together."
Tina experienced a number of medical crises over the years, including a stroke and intestinal cancer. In 2017, when she developed kidney failure, Bach donated one of his kidneys to her. Tina was extremely grateful, calling it a "gift of life."
She commented on life with Bach after Ike in her memoir, appreciating her husband and the life he offered to her. "I lived through a hellish marriage that almost destroyed me, but I went on. I know that my medical adventure is far from over. 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."
References:
https://people.com/inside-tina-turner-husband-erwin-bach-love-story-marriage-7503818
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5-BSVPgxWV/?hl=en
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Jacopo Raule
