Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, Roberta Flack and others share emotional tributes to Tina Turner
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — As the world mourns the loss of music icon Tina Turner, one of “The Best” singer’s most famous friends, Oprah Winfrey, shared a moving tribute on her website and social media.
Winfrey, who devoted portions of her landmark daytime talk show to Turner in the late 90s and the aughts, said in a statement posted to her Instagram on Wednesday that the influential pop culture figure “was a role model not only for me but for the world.”
“She once shared with me that when her time came to leave this earth, she would not be afraid, but excited and curious,” Winfrey said, adding “I am a better woman, a better human, because her life touched mine. She was indeed simply the best.”
The family of Turner told CNN in a statement that she died “peacefully” in her home in Switzerland on Wednesday after suffering from an undisclosed “long illness.” She was 83.
Her turbulent life with Ike Turner and their rise to fame was depicted in the 1993 biopic “What’s Love Got To Do With It” starring Angela Bassett, who told CNN in a statement on Wednesday that “Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like.”
While in concert in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday night, singer Lizzo performed a spirited rendition of “Proud Mary,” and also said that she was not letting herself cry yet over the loss of Turner, instead choosing to “celebrate what an incredible legend Tina Turner is and always will be.”
“As a black girl in a rock band, I would not exist if it was not for the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Lizzo added onstage.
As people showed support by placing flowers on Turner’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, rock legends from Turner’s era including Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger took to social media to share their sentiments.
“I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner,” Jagger said on Twitter, adding that Turner was “inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”
In a statement shared with CNN, singer Roberta Flack paid tribute to Turner by remembering her “meteoric energy on stage” during their 1971 “Soul to Soul” tour in Ghana.
“My friend, Tina, thank you for inspiring us to always be everything we were meant to be–regardless of life’s challenges. A woman without limits. You will always be my hero,” Flack’s statement read.
On CNN This Morning Thursday, rock legends John Fogerty and Paul Shaffer reminisced about Turner.
“Tina was the best. I have been rooting for her for years before she recorded ‘Proud Mary’ and was lucky enough to tour with her with my band Creedence (Clearwater Revival),” Fogerty, who wrote the hit, told CNN. “She was amazing on stage. I was so proud that basically ‘Proud Mary’ was the song that catapulted her from sort of in the middle of rock and roll to the very heights of pop music. At that time in, I was just thrilled that she had finally become a household name.”
“She was like a hurricane, like a tornado, like a dynamo,” Shaffer said of Turner’s stage presence. “No one had ever seen anything like it.”
The White House said that Turner’s death is a “massive loss” shortly after the news broke on Wednesday, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying that Turner was “a music icon who had many stages, many amazing moments in her career.”
Celebrities from all corners of the industry continued to post tributes throughout the day on Wednesday. Among them were Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Halle Berry, Keith Urban and more.
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CNN’s Chris Boyette contributed to this story.
