Tina Turner's Remarks About Death Resurface After Her Passing

By Ashley Turner

Tina Turner was not afraid of going into the great unknown. The legendary artist died on May 24, 2023, of a "long illness," her publicist said in a statement to NBC News. A one-of-a-kind singer and performer, she was known for overcoming emotional trauma and relaunching her career in her 40s after surviving an abusive relationship. In 2013, Turner sat for an interview with friend Oprah Winfrey about her career, past, and future when she was 73. In discussions with Winfrey, Turner approached transitioning from life to death with curiosity and a sense of contentment. 

"Even when it's time to go and leave to another planet, I'm excited about that, because I'm curious to know what it's about," she said at the time. "Nobody can tell you because nobody has come back. I'm not excited to die, but I don't regret it when it's time for me. I've done what I came here to do. Now is pleasure. I've got great friends. I have a great man in my life now. I have a great husband, and I'm happy."

In her 2018 memoir, Tina Turner: My Love Story, Turner listed a series of health problems she'd faced since 2013, including stroke, intestinal cancer, kidney failure, and vertigo. According to her memoir, an excerpt from which was published in PEOPLE, her second husband, Erwin Bach, donated a kidney to save her life in 2017. "I wondered if anyone would think that Erwin's living donation was transactional in some way," she wrote in her memoir. "Incredibly, considering how long we had been together, there were still people who wanted to believe that Erwin married me for my money and fame." The couple married in 2013, 27 years after they first met. In an interview with TODAY.com in 2021, Turner described the moment as one of the happiest of her life.

She also opened up about her struggles with mental health in My Love Story, which detailed how she attempted suicide following an abusive relationship with Ike Turner. "I chose death, and I chose it honestly," she wrote. "I was unhappy when I woke up. But I never tried it again because I made an important realization, one that changed the course of my life. I came out of the darkness believing I was meant to survive. I was here for a reason." Bach said in Turner's 2021 documentary Tina that the film was her way of saying goodbye, along with her musical as well. "She said I'm going to America, I'm going to say goodbye to my American fans, and I'm going to wrap it up. I think this documentary and this play — this is it. This is a closure," he said.

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