LOS ANGELES: Tributes poured in on Thursday for Tina Turner, the trailblazing rocker whose powerful voice, electrifying stage presence, and personal story of triumph mesmerized global audiences for decades.
Turner, an instantly recognisable performer whose popularity spanned generations, died on Wednesday at the age of 83 at her home in a plush Swiss suburb.
Presidents, fellow singers and fans paid tribute to an explosive performer, whose popularity spanned generations and whose story of overcoming domestic violence touched many around the world.
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger -- who, legend has it, learned his dance moves from the diva, said the world had lost "an enormously talented performer and singer."
"She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her."
Bandmate Ronnie Wood called Turner "the Queen Of Rock And Soul and a dear friend."
Fans lined up to pay tribute at the wrought iron gates of her huge compound in Kusnacht, on Switzerland's Lake Zurich, many bearing candles and flowers.
"Someone like this should live forever," said Barbara Burkhalter, who came to pay her respects on Thursday.
Chateau Algonquin had been the home Turner shared with her German husband Erwin Bach for almost three decades, including when she took Swiss citizenship in 2013, relinquishing her US passport.
"The world has lost an icon," Swiss President Alain Berset said. US President Joe Biden paid a pointed tribute to a "once-in-a-generation talent that changed American music forever."
"Tina's personal strength was remarkable," Biden wrote. "Overcoming adversity, and even abuse, she built a career for the ages and a life and legacy that were entirely hers," he added, calling Turner "simply the best."
Barack Obama called her "a star whose light will never fade."
"Tina Turner was raw. She was powerful. She was unstoppable. And she was unapologetically herself - speaking and singing her truth through joy and pain; triumph and tragedy," Barack Obama said.
Turner's Britain-based publicist Bernard Doherty said her death came after a long illness, and had robbed the world of "a music legend and a role model."
He gave no details of the illness.
A career that would go on to net eight Grammy Awards began in the 1960s in a partnership with husband Ike Turner.
The pair recorded a number of hits together throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and while he was credited as being the brains behind the operation, she was clearly the more talented.
After their troubled and violent marriage collapsed -- she fled in 1976 mid-tour -- Tina Turner forged a wildly successful solo career.
The following decades gifted the world instantly recognisable hits like "What's Love Got to Do With It?", "Private Dancer" and the anthemic "The Best".
Her "We Don't Need Another Hero" featured on the soundtrack to "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," the 1985 post-apocalyptic thriller starring Mel Gibson.
A decade later, she oozed her way through "Goldeneye," joining the select ranks of artists who have sung on the James Bond franchise.
Her neighbours in Switzerland remembered a kind person, discreet and unassuming, who made efforts to learn German, contribute to the community and who often made someone's day with her smile.
Jerika Seiler, 48, who had met Turner many times in local restaurants over the past 20 years, once saw her when Turner was driving into her compound.
"She opened the window and said Hi and smiled. I was shouting for happiness!" she said.
"She was great in every way," she said. "She will always be simply the best." - AFP
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