Stars are reflecting on the legacy and impact of Tina Turner with CNN. The iconic singer died peacefully Wednesday at the age of 83, her family said.
Singer and actress Sheryl Lee Ralph called Turner “an icon, a queen, a dynamic, electrifying performer.”
“Every time, now, when I hear ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It,’ I keep thinking in terms of her passing, it’s got everything to do with it because this was an artist who was truly, deeply loved and who loved what she did, getting up on that stage and turning it on for her audience,” Ralph told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Wednesday. “I mean Tina Turner, that’s a one-in-a-million type artist.”
Actress, dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen called Turner’s hit song “Proud Mary” “an anthem for young Black women.”
“She was like the divine feminine incarnate — this incredible Black woman who was a rockstar,” Allen told Blitzer of Turner. “She just like jumped across the labels of what music she was supposed to be singing. She made it what it was.”
Allen added that Turner is “an inspiration to millions of people around the world and will always be.”
Ruth Pointer, the last surviving original member of the Pointer Sisters group, said she began to weep upon learning of Turner’s passing Wednesday.
“I loved her so much. In my opinion, she was my queen in the music industry. She was my queen,” Pointer told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “I wanted to be her, you know. I tried to be her with my sisters.”
Pointer, who worked with Turner and other music legends on “We are the World” in 1985, recalled seeing Turner perform several times — one of which being after Pointer had graduated from high school.
“I was never the same after that,” Pointer said about the performance.
Singer-turned-photographer Bryan Adams spoke to Turner’s character.
“She was not only really kind to me in the beginning, but just fabulous to work for,” Adams told Burnett.
Adams, who recorded the 1985 duet “It’s Only Love” with Turner and who wrote her award-winning 1986 hit “Back Where You Started,” said that being on tour with Turner “was unbelievable.”
“She asked me to come and be her support act in Europe back in 1985, it changed everything for me as a solo performer,” Adams said. “It really opened up everything and I will never ever be able to articulate how grateful I am for her for that.”
