Happy Birthday, Tina Turner: Queen of Rock Celebrates 80th Birthday

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Paul Natkin/Getty Images

"Yes, I'm 80," smiles Tina Turner. Celebrating the milestone in style, the legendary singer continues, "How did I think I would be at 80? Not like this."

It's the grown-up, revivalist Turner that we celebrate today. She became a solo superstar at the age of 44 - proving to the world what her voice had always underscored: Turner was born a fighter.

 

The story of Turner's passion, perseverance, and powerful resilience came to Broadway this month with the opening of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, revealing the horrific abuse Turner experienced in her long relationship with bandleader Ike Turner as well as the exhausting obstacles she overcame to achieve remarkable success as a solo artist, against all odds. 

Read more: 'Tina: The Tina Turner Musical' Officially Debuts on Broadway

In her 2018 memoir My Love Story, Turner shed light on the life-threatening diagnoses she was recovering from, including a stroke, intestinal cancer, and kidney failure.

Enjoying her current-day retirement, she now has Swiss citizenship and happily shared with Entertainment Weekly, "I wanted to spend time with Erwin [Bach, my husband] and do the things that normal people do, like work in my garden, stay up late watching movies, and go food shopping."

Listen: The Official Tina Turner playlist

On this day, we honor the woman who spent 80 years transforming her difficult life circumstances into a bright, enduring self-made future. 

"I look great, I feel good," she adds, chuckling heartily. "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." 

Watch the 80-year-old queen of rock pour out her soul in the final encore of her last concert in England, 2009 with "Be Tender With Me Baby."

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