Tina Turner passed away on Wednesday, May 24, at the age of 83. The legendary artist, nicknamed the “Queen of RocknRoll” died in Switzerland, where she lived with her husband, Erwin Bach.
Erwin Bach was the true great love of the late singer, the man who helped her find peace and happiness after a life full of drama, trauma and abuse. Șiņa and Erwin lived an unconditional love story for 38 years, until the star’s passing, which died due to health problems.
“I felt the connection between our souls”
Over time, Tina Turner praised Erwin, saying that he helped her find happiness.
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The two first met at Dusseldorf Airport in Germany in 1985, and the artist said years later that they had an incredible instant connection the moment their eyes met.
Bach, 17 years younger than Tina Turner, was never intimidated by her fame, talent or success and was a constant by her side no matter how hard the trials were. He even donated a kidney in April 2017 to save the artist’s life.
The queen of rock ‘n’ roll has thanked him for teaching her how to “love without giving up who she is” after her first marriage to Ike Turner was rife with physical and emotional abuse.
Turner met Bach at Düsseldorf airport in 1985 when he was sent to meet her. At the time, he was the director of the European record label EMI. The couple said a few years later that it was love at first sight between them.
“Her manager Roger [Davies] asked me to take Tina,” Bach recalled in the 2021 HBO documentary Hold. “So Roger said, ‘Tina, you’re going with Erwin,’ and I was like, ‘YES!’.
“I noticed him and instantly felt an emotional connection!”
“He was indeed a very handsome man. My heart was beating faster and faster, which means I felt the connection between our souls. And my hands were shaking. My hands were cold as ice. So this is what they call love at first sight, I thought at the time. God, I’m not ready for this, I thought” – revealed Tina, quoted by the Daily Mail.
The pair began their relationship that same year, and Turner continued to work with EMI to promote her music overseas.
“Falling in love with my husband, Erwin, was another exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone, in being open to receiving the unexpected gifts that life has to offer”she wrote in her autobiography, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good.
“The day I first met him at the airport in Germany, I should have been very tired from the flight and far too preoccupied with thoughts about my concert tour. But I noticed him and instantly felt an emotional connection.
Even then, I could have ignored what I felt, I could have listened to the inner voice in my head telling me that I didn’t look good that day. Or that I shouldn’t think about romance because it never ends well.
Instead, I listened to my heart. I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to make it a priority to get to know Erwin. That simple first date led to a long and beautiful relationship. To my one true marriage.” – added the singer.
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It was 27 years before Bach and Turner, aged 73 at the time, finally decided to get married civilly. The ceremony took place on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland in 2013.
A few days after their wedding, they threw a lavish party in their extravagant Swiss home, where Oprah Winfrey and David Bowie were among the 120 guests.
“We don’t need a marriage to be together”
Over 100,000 red and yellow roses brought from the Netherlands were used to decorate the house. The wedding came as a surprise to many, as the couple spoke rarely and little about marriage and always seemed to be happy without this formality.
At the time, before making the marriage official, Turner said: “We are like married. We just haven’t gone to the altar and probably won’t unless we have to“.
Bach was of the same opinion: “We don’t need a marriage to be together. Some people need that thing for security. But I think that if, deep down, you are happy with your partner, you don’t need formalities.“
“My dear husband Erwin gave me the ultimate gift – the gift of his life!”
Afterwards, Tina Turner said the wedding was spectacular.
“My wedding day was perfect, spectacular, it couldn’t have been any other way. And it didn’t bother anyone that the bride was 73 years old. I organized everything myself, and that included bringing over 100,000 roses to decorate the grounds of our home in Switzerland. As friends gathered and sipped champagne on that glorious day in July 2013, I could feel the air filling with the most wonderful fragrance” – she added.
“It wasn’t until we got together to take photos that I started to feel a little weird. It must have been the heat, I thought, or the heavy dress, an Armani confection of green taffeta, black silk tulle and Swarovski crystals. In fact, that sensation I felt was the first sign of a nightmare that would only end when my dear husband Erwin gave me the ultimate gift – the gift of his life.” – Tina also told.
Bach had tried twice to convince Tina to walk down the aisle when she was 50 years old. He asked her to be his wife, but she didn’t believe what was happening to her was real. Although their relationship continued as well and beautifully, his request remained without a definite answer for another 23 years.
Just three weeks after the wedding, Turner suffered a stroke. And three years later, in 2016, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
She experienced unpleasant side effects from her cancer treatment. And in addition, he also resorted to homeopathic remedies, which worsened his condition, eventually leading to kidney failure.
“The consequences of my ignorance have become a matter of life and death. In that terrible moment of guilt I learned something wonderful about Erwin. He never reproached me for my mistake. Instead, he was loyal, kind and understanding. And determined to help me get through all this alive.
At the time, the organ donation rate in Switzerland was one of the lowest in Europe. Which made it almost impossible for me, a 75-year-old woman, to get to the top of the waiting list.
I started thinking about death. If my kidneys failed and it was time to die, I could accept that. It was ok. When it’s time, it’s time. I didn’t mind the thought of dying, but I was worried about how it would happen. One of the benefits of living in Switzerland is that assisted suicide is legal, although the patient must inject the lethal drug themselves. I think that’s when the idea of my death became a reality for Erwin. He was very emotional because he didn’t want to lose me, he didn’t want me to leave“, she wrote in another memoir, from 2018, “My Love Story”.
He told her he didn’t want another woman or another life and ended up donating his own kidney in April 2017 to save her life. The operation was largely successful.
Tina said at the time: “I am happy to announce that thanks to my beloved husband, Erwin, who gave me one of his kidneys, the gift of life, I am healthy and able to love life every day. The most beautiful moment was when Erwin came to my room in his wheelchair. He somehow managed to look good, even handsome, as he greeted me with an energetic, “Hello, dear!”. I was so excited, overjoyed and relieved that I got through it okay. He quickly recovered and within a few weeks was enjoying his first glass of wine.”
Bach was 30 when he met Turner, who was 47. And the pair were frequently blamed for their age difference.
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“Incredibly, considering we’d been together for so long, there were still people who said Erwin married me for my money and my fame. Why would a younger man want a relationship with an older woman? Erwin always ignored the rumours.”
The artist renounced her US citizenship in 2013, as she lived with her husband in Switzerland.
“I’m tired of singing and making everyone happy. That’s all I’ve ever done in my life. I do not sing. I don’t dance. I don’t dress up for shows”she told the New York Times about her retirement in 2019.
Bach said that when she found out about Turner’s abuse while married to Ike, it was very hard for her to hear the story.
“I’ve had a life full of abuse!”
She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to domestic abuse suffered at the hands of her first husband and musical partner, Ike Turner.
“It was not a good life. The good did not balance the bad. I had a life full of abuse. There is no other way to tell the story. It is a reality. It is a truth. This is what you have, so you have to accept it. Some people say that the life I’ve lived and the shows I’ve done, the appreciation I’ve received, are explosive things. And yes, I should be proud of that. I’m proud. But what do you do when you stop being proud? Do you bow slowly? Are you leaving?”
Turner credited Bach with being the man who finally brought her happiness.
But he revealed the artist was still having nightmares about her abusive relationship with Ike and said: “He has nightmares about it, it’s not pleasant. It’s like when soldiers come back from war. It’s not an easy time to have those things in your memory and then try to forget.”
Tina Turner began to wind down her music career as her relationship with Bach blossomed. And she made her last album in 1999, at the age of 59, and her last performance was in 2009.
Photo – Hepta
Last modified May 25, 2023 11:56 am
